Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

There's Something About Stargirl

Under 2 Months Ago / Mid-November 2022

Courtney Whitmore had recently gained the Cosmic Staff, having released it from DEO storage, and was now flying over the Blue Valley area of Nebraska.

The day after she had gotten the Staff, after joyriding about on it, sidesaddle first, it had taken her to an outdoor storage locker area, insisting to go into one of the lockers.

This had resulted in Courtney using the Staff to break into the locker to discover an old dusty superhero costume, some papers and more miscellaneous items – but the costume had proven useful, as it was one she modified when she got home to wear now, while the paperwork confirmed a few things she didn't know; for one, the locker itself has belonged to one C.W. and had been the previous owner of the Staff, which itself was called the Cosmic Staff and this C.W. had been called Stargirl.

There were newspapers of various articles from the 1940s, following this so-called Stargirl and a team of heroes which fascinated her, some of which she took home with her, but with more information under her belt – and a potential hero name to take up – Courtney had since started using the Staff to take on minor crimes, albeit wearing the costume too.

Now though, flying over the Nebraska area, her eyes caught sight of a bright blue light near a bridge. She frowned as, even at this distance and in the evening light, part of the water running under the lake was frozen, while the rest was running clear.

"Come on, Cosmo," she told the Staff, having affectionally named the Staff that after discovering what it really was.

She steered the Staff down to the bridge, seeing two people in battle – a tall blonde man firing ice at a shorter, dark-haired woman who was using some sort of telekinetic blue energy to defend herself. Judging at the way the iceman was trying to overpower the woman, Courtney figured this guy had to be the baddie as she leaned on the Staff, concentrating an energy beam from it directly at the male, shocking him as he fell backwards.

"Hey, pick on someone your own size!" Courtney called, wincing as she said it, given she was probably the same height as the other girl, and still considerably smaller than the iceman.

"Who are you?!" The girl asked, shocked by her sudden friend.

"I'm calling myself Star–" but Courtney was caught short as an ice blast hit her, sending her back, the Staff leaving her hand in the surprise, flying off from the attack.

"No, you don't!" The other woman shouted at the man, using her blue energy now to trap him in a rope-like embrace, but the Cosmic Staff acted on its own as it flew back around and hit the man harder, sending him back and breaking the blue energy rope of the other woman.

Courtney ran, grabbing the Staff again, to help concentrate the energy before it was used up, the light emanating from the Staff suddenly stopping as the iceman seemed to know he was bested, letting out a blast of ice on the ground that sent out a thick mist. When it cleared, he had gone.

"Damn, got away…" Courtney mused as light came back to the Staff. "What was he after you for? Who is he?"

"Icicle. Someone I've been trailing…" the other woman mused, turning to Courtney. "Thanks for the assist, though. You said your name was Star?"

"No, Stargirl. I call myself Stargirl," Courtney smiled at the woman, who held out her hand.

"Dreamer," the girl responded. "Your power comes from that Staff?"

"Yeah, I'm actually… well, I'm still figuring it out," Courtney admitted with a small laugh as she held the Staff.

"That's cool," Dreamer mused.

"Very much so," Courtney admitted. "Are you a meta?"

"No," Dreamer said back. "I'm… not from around here…" That was enough for Courtney to get that the girl was an alien, much like Superman and Supergirl – and like the two Kryptonians, she was human-looking. "Are you new to the game?"

"Yes, but I know a thing or two," Courtney said, smiling at the Staff, which lit up, as if agreeing with Courtney's statement.

"I can see that. I can help you. I've been working solo for a while now," Dreamer reasoned.

"Not working with the Justice League?" Courtney frowned at this, knowing most wannabe heroes wanted in the superhero group.

"The team thing isn't for me," Dreamer shrugged. "But if you want some help, I'm happy to have a friend."

"I'd like that," Courtney smiled now.

-SuperEarth-

Present Day / Early-January 2023

A seemingly nearing middle-aged woman stood before the Fortune Teller's shop, located in Metropolis. She sighed, having exhausted every other avenue, and had little faith in this particular means of rudimentary magic, but it was a matter of need.

She walked into the shop, the bell above the door giving a little jingle as she pulled a face. The place seemed empty for a moment before a dark woman in colorful robes appeared and paused, blinking at the other woman.

"Well, well, well, I don't get Fifth Dimensional Imps in here every day," the colorful woman commented.

"One point to you," the other woman muttered. "How do you know my kind?"

"Madam Abbot knows all, for I am she," the woman calling herself Madam Abbot explained, causing the new woman to sigh, "but what do they call you, my new friend?"

"Hardly a friend," the woman stated. "But if you must know I am Nyxlygsptlnz, although it's easier to just call me Nxyly."

"Nxyly? Hmm," Madam Abbot mused. "Well, come, take a seat," she indicated the small round table with the crystal ball in the center. Nxyly shook her head but sat regardless. "Ignore the Crystal Ball; that's more for show," Madam Abbot said clearly seeing Nxyly disgusted look at the object. "Now, how can I help a Fifth Dimensional Imp?"

"I very much doubt you can," Nxyly stated.

"And yet here you are," Madam Abbot pointed out. "I suspect you want to leave this world," she then mused, looking directly at Nxyly with a frown of her own, "but you lack the power…"

"Okay, two points to you. Maybe you do have something," Nxyly mused, wondering just how powerful this woman was and a bit more hopeful she might have the answers Nxyly was looking for.

"But how can you not leave this world? Your magic is greater than anything on this planet. Oh, I see…" Madam Abbot was still looking, unnervingly, at Nxyly now, as if reading her very soul. "There is a threat to this world, a threat that is blocking you from your place. Interesting."

"I need help to get back home," Nxyly stated, short with the woman, who now reached forward and grabbed Nxyly's hands. She recoiled a moment but then replaced her hands in Madam Abbot's.

"You were locked in a prison outside of time," Madam Abbot read the Imp, "then you were freed by a Flash and sent to us. Yet still you were still imprisoned. I can read it. You are surprisingly open, Nxyly."

"I… I'm still getting to grips with my own magic, blocking my mind…" Nyxyly tried.

"This isn't information from your mind, it's from your aura," Madam Abbot smirked. "But you've done bad, a lot of bad," she now frowned, still holding onto Nxyly's hands as she frowned at the woman. "You sought a Kryptonian to free you, you used a former Hell resident for your own game… oh, poor girl."

"Poor girl? I freed her from the DEO and let her decide her next steps," Nyxly protested.

"Oh, not what has happened to her, but what will happen. So tragic…" Madam Abbot frowned.

"Okay…" Nxyly didn't know what to say to this; Madam Abbot was intriguing her now, despite herself.

"Ah, but there's hope. Even with such darkness," Madam Abbot stated. "The Paragon of Courage will be a light in even the darkest place. You and she will get on well."

"One of the Paragons of the Multiverse? Seriously?" Nxyly asked; she know of the Paragons, being from the multiverse imbued with the necessary elements of the multiverse – they had rebooted it after the Infinite Crisis and retained some power over the entire thing these days.

"Yes. You and she will be needed to defeat the Darkness. You will need the Totems of Zambezi, the Paragon's sisters and – oh – there will be two of the same man, that is interesting," Madam Abbot muttered.

"Alright," Nxyly sighed, now pulling her hands out of Madam Abbots grasp. "As fun as this is, it's not exactly the answer I'm looking for."

"Because the only answer you need leads directly to what you're running away from," Madam Abbot stated. "To leave this world, to survive, you need to fight the Darkness. If you do not… you die with everyone else. I have sensed it for a while, a shadow looming over our reality, our fate in the balance but until today I didn't know more. You have given me a lot of answers, Nxyly."

"And left me with more questions," Nxyly sighed, getting up. "I think I'm done here."

"I know you are," Madam Abbot smirked. "But you can't leave this world until you do good, Nxyly," Madam Abbot stated, Nxyly heading for the door. "And for you, the first reading is free."

"It was going to be – or else I would have killed you," Nyxly stated, leaving the shop, annoyed.

"That was never going to happen," Madam Abbot smirked to herself as she retreated, back into the backroom to finish her tea.

-SuperEarth-

Kara Allen had flown to the Fortress of Solitude. For the past month or so, the multiverse had been somehow blocked from them, and with a connection to the multiverse set up in the Fortress itself, she was hoping their helper robot, Kal-X had managed to get a connection re-established.

"Mistress Kara," Kal-X introduced as Kara came into the Fortress, pausing at the two giant statues of hers and Clark's parents with a smile.

"Hello, Kal-X," Kara stated. "Please tell me you have an update on the multiverse."

"Unfortunately, not," the little robot stated, to a disappointed sigh from the Kryptonian. "The unknown error is still coming up. It is very unusual."

"Have you run a system diagnostic?" Kara asked, figuring she knew the answer, but she just wanted to hear it.

"Of course," Kal-X mused, moving over to the control panel in the center of the room. "And given this world's abundance of magic, we have tried various magical methods to re-establish connection, but to no avail," Kara had to pause as she tried to picture Kal-X doing a John Constantine-like spell to open a portal to another world but held back her small laugh.

"Yes, I did ask John too," Kara mused. "Is there anything you can tell me regarding this problem?"

"There is nothing, Mistress Kara," Kal-X responded. "All we can do is keep trying."

"Any idea if this affects the rest of the multiverse?" Kara asked, wondering if they were the only world cut off, or if all the worlds were.

"Unknown. Although it is likely we are the only world cut off," Kal-X pointed out.

"Very well," Kara sighed. "Thank you anyway."

"Always here to be of service to the House of El," Kal-X stated, still by the console and typing with its little robotic fingers.

Kara turned to leave at that. This was only going to be a brief visit, and with their current house guest and the children to look after, she didn't want it to be too long, regardless.

No luck? She heard Barry in her head, through their Kryptonian Bond.

None. I was so hoping it would come back… Kara mused sadly; being a Paragon of the Multiverse, it was hard being cut off from her fellow Paragons and the multiverse she had helped reboot. She had obsessively tried text the Paragon group message for a bit, but stopped when all the messaged came up as failed to send.

It can't last forever, we'll get them back, Barry sent Kara the reassuring thought as she now left the Fortress.

It was concerning though, given she was a Paragon of the Multiverse, that she couldn't contact the multiverse – and that there was no obvious reason for it.

-SuperEarth-

Alex Danvers, Director of the DEO, had travelled solo to Blue Valley.

Ever since it had been discovered what happened to the Cosmic Staff, which the DEO had kept in storage and was subsequently taken, Alex had had her team do research on it – and who stole it – to discover some interesting facts. It had been one of the reasons she had delayed in going to Blue Valley to initially retrieve the item from the person who stole it.

The Comic Staff itself had belonged to one Courtney Whitmore of the former Justice Society – a group of heroes formed during World War 2 to help fight the Nazis. Courtney herself had gone by Stargirl and had been killed in action during the last year of the war. The Staff had been retrieved by her teammates and that's how it ended up in the possession of the DEO. What was interesting, though, was that she had fallen pregnant a year before her death, with this kept under wraps, and the young woman forced to give up the baby after birth.

Luckily, said baby had gone to a relative, keeping the Whitmore last name as he grew up to have a family of his own much later in his own life, naming his daughter after his own mother: Courtney.

It was this Courtney that Alex knew had taken the Cosmic Staff nearly two months prior when doing a tour of STAR Labs with her school year group. It had been a painful tour, to say the least, with some very annoying students that Alex had taken around the Labs – to this day she didn't know why she didn't delegate it to a lesser member of staff, but it was too late to contemplate this as what was done, was done. At least she could remember Courtney Whitmore, the younger, in the crowd.

Today though, she had been watching Courtney hanging out with friends, working part time at a local diner, and even heading to her school to practice gymnastics – she was very good on the various bars used in the sport, swinging with ease between the parallel bars and showing amazing balance on the horizontal bar. It made sense, given the footage Alex had seen of her as Stargirl using the Cosmic Staff in similar gymnastic fashion.

It was in the evening that things changed as Alex watched the girl's house from afar, in time to see her suddenly fly out from one of the first-floor windows on the familiar Staff in a blue and white costume.

"Time to move," Alex told herself, having been waiting in her car now, turning on engine to follow the woman in the sky. The Staff was fast – but not as fast as Supergirl or the Flash was, so it wasn't too hard to follow her, stopping from afar when the girl seemed to find herself in a battle with a man in a hockey mask and sports gear. Alex paused, wondering if she should step in, until blue light appeared and a woman in a blue outfit joined the fight, helping Courtney.

"Dreamer…?" Alex frowned, knowing the new hero vaguely from the multiverse herself. It was unusual for the woman, who she knew was really an alien called Nia Nal, to be out here in Nebraska, usually being based in National City, but Alex couldn't question this as she got out of her car, watching as the two women took on the man in the hockey mask – he seemed extremely athletic himself and surprisingly strong as he took a lot of the attacks coming from the Comic Staff and Dreamer's own powers.

Courtney used the Staff well, matching Dreamer's powers, making Alex wonder if the pair had been working together for a while, but was distracted when Courtney used the Staff's energy to blast at the baddie, seeming to drain the Staff with it. The man used the opportunity to run off – at surprising speeds – with Dreamer taking chase. However, with the Staff's power seeming weak, Courtney couldn't follow.

That was when Alex stepped in.

"Stargirl?" She called to the girl, who paused and turned to Alex, and then froze upon seeing who it was – obviously remembering her little unauthorized escapade into STAR Labs. She must have hoped that Alex didn't know her actual identity as she quickly regained composure.

"Sorry lady, kind of busy," she shook her Staff, trying to get it to light up again. "Come on Cosmo, what's wrong?" She asked the Staff under her breath. "We've gotta help take down Sportsmaster!"

"I'm not just any lady, I'm DEO," Alex spoke up, playing along as she pulled out a badge, bringing Courtney's attention back to her.

"Are you some kind of cop?" Courtney asked, briefly looking at the badge, feigning with Alex, too.

"Sort of. We are a government agency tasked with dealing with alien and meta threats. We also work with the hero organization the Justice League and I came here to check out the heroes of this place. I see you know Dreamer," Alex tried, this caused Courtney to pause.

"She's my… well, she's been helping me in the hero game," Courtney stated as Alex took a few steps forward.

"I saw you took down a meta at the local school recently," Alex now added, remembering the article from just before Christmas of Stargirl saving the school.

"Yeah. Icicle. He had some scheme going on at the school. It wasn't just me though, it was Dreamer too, but the media didn't catch her," Courtney shrugged, looking at Alex now. "Is this some sort of informal interview?"

"You could say that," Alex mused. "We just want to know more about you. Care to talk somewhere more privately?"

"Sure, why not?" Courtney shrugged, herself, leading Alex to a nearby alleyway; Alex walking behind as she took in the outfit the girl was wearing – it was very similar to the original Stargirl's.

Once in the alleyway, though, Courtney turned back to Alex, eyebrow raised.

"Well?" Courtney asked now.

"Just… tell me about yourself. About the Staff," Alex nodded to the Cosmic Staff at this.

"Well, there's not much to tell. Cosmo works for me, I work with Dreamer and that's it," Courtney stated. The Staff seemed to not be lighting up much, like it wanted her to stay here.

"I get that. But the last time Stargirl was seen in public, in that costume, was back in the 1940s," Alex stated, having done her research, too. "What's the connection between her and you?"

"I don't think there is one," Courtney shrugged; Alex raised her eyebrows – it seemed Courtney didn't know her fraternal grandmother. "The Staff works for me – usually – and it showed me to the costume. Everything fell into place."

"Well, that is interesting. I have information on the original Stargirl which I think you'll find useful," Alex stated, but before she could say more a blue light appeared and, with DEO-trained reflexed, Alex avoided the concentrated light of Dreamer attacking her.

"What's your game?!" Dreamer asked as she went to strike Alex, who successfully dodged the attack on her.

"No, Dreamer!" Courtney tried.

"I have no game," Alex countered as Dreamer now concentrated her powers into some sort of mild sonic blast, knocking her back.

"Stargirl is my–" Dreamer continued, but Courtney quickly interceded, her Staff finally lighting up. Alex was close to pulling out her gun at this point.

"She's DEO. She's government. Friends of the Justice League," Courtney insisted with her friend, who paused. "She… came to ask about Cosmo…"

"Why?" Dreamer asked as Alex got up again.

"Because she stole it from STAR Labs right under my nose," Alex countered, looking between Dreamer and Courtney now.

"You… know?" Courtney asked, eyes wide at Alex. She was just a teenager, after all.

"You're Courtney Whitmore," Alex stated simply. "But you didn't actually steal that Staff. Technically, it's yours by right."

"What?!" Both Courtney and Dreamer asked at this, shocked.

-SuperEarth-

Kara had returned from the Fortress of Solitude to Barry in their townhouse in Central-National City. Including their four children, the adopted Zari and Adri Tarazi and their own twin babies Avery and Aiden, they had taken in a lodger for the time being, too: Samatha Arias.

Sam, for her part, had recently discovered that she was Kryptonian, with her powers working on recall – the only problem was that for this to all happen, she had been a missing person, locked under another Kryptonian persona and in this time had lost her job and the lease on her apartment. Luckily, Kara had stepped in to help her newfound sister, given Sam was also made from Zor-El and Alura's DNA.

Alex, living in a one-bed apartment, despite being Director of the DEO, had offered to help her old friend, but Sam couldn't pass off the opportunity to learn more of her Kryptonian heritage – and her family – by living with Kara for the time being.

Today though, they were just enjoying some quality down time as they talked among themselves about life and their problems: for Sam, right now, it was Lena Keirnan, the woman who had taken over from her as CEO of L-Corp when she'd gone missing and was now officially in the reign of the company. For Kara, it had been her new job as an Editor at CatCo.

"I've reached out to Lena a few times since I got out of hospital," Sam was telling Kara; Barry was on baby-feeding duties with their Kryptonian dog Lara, on his heels, "but I've only had a generic reply. It's so annoying, we were getting on okay, despite her family's lawsuit and now… this."

"That is weird," Kara reasoned, "from what I know of Lena, she's actually really forthcoming and kind, she wouldn't throw you under the bus."

"And yet that's what she's done. She claimed she didn't want the company, that it was her mom's idea to sue for it to begin with and now she's in the hotseat she's gone back on that word," Sam stated. "She seems to love it. Her Luthor side must be showing…"

"To be fair, Lionel Luthor was never a baddie, it was just Lex and Lillian so I think the evil supervillain side of the family comes from Lillan herself, and given Lena is from Lionel's affair with Lena's mom, there can't be a connection," Kara mused; there were no secrets now that Sam was Kryptonian and knew who Kara was.

"There's must be something in genes though," Sam mused, frowning.

"What about your colleagues in L-Corp?" Kara asked, knowing she had made some friends in L-Corp, being the previous CEO before the whole Lena business. "Could they help you?"

"They've been fired," Sam stated.

"What?!" Kara was surprised by this. "That's not like Lena at all."

"Well, it's Lena now," Sam pouted as Barry came into the room carrying one baby, while Lara followed behind, floating behind him and holding another baby – it was giggling in excitement at being carried like this. Sam laughed at the unusual image.

"What's Lena done?" Barry asked as he put the baby he had in the crib, Lara following, to place the baby she had next to its sibling before she took up position in front of the crib.

"Apart from not speaking to Sam, she's fired a lot of the staff," Kara explained. "Very unusual behavior."

"Oh. Well, a lot of new CEOs try to put their own spin on things," Barry reasoned. "Are you sure she's not just remaking the company into what she wants and to do so she needs to let go of some old people?"

"Possible. But not responding to Sam who she had been friends with before this?" Kara said to her husband. "At least offering up an explanation… It all seems very weird for her."

"True – for the Lena's we know at least," Barry reasoned as Sam's ears picked up at this. "But this Lena… we don't know. And from what we do know, she's very different from the others. At least her history here."

"What are you on about now?" Sam asked, confused by their wording.

"The multiverse," Kara stated, a small smirk on her face. They may have been cut off from the rest of the worlds in the multiverse, but it was good to talk about it.

"Multiverse? Like that show Sliders?" Sam asked, causing both Barry and Kara to laugh and Lara to give a bark. It was a common comparison these days.

"Just like Sliders," Barry confirmed.

-SuperEarth-

Back in Blue Valley, Alex had recovered from her attack by Dreamer, having revealed that the Cosmic Staff, which Stargirl had technically stolen, was Courtney's by right.

"What do you mean Cosmo is mine?" Stargirl asked Alex while Nia stayed put, obviously not trusting the DEO agent, but keeping quiet for her friend.

"What do you know of your grandmother?" Alex asked Courtney. "On your dad's side?"

"Urm, not much," Courtney pointed out. "Dad's mom gave him up for adoption, he was taken in by other family members. He was always discouraged from asking about his mom, so I don't know much. He did name me after her, I think. At least, that's what mom says."

"What exactly has this to do with anything?" Nia asked, but Alex ignored her.

"What do you know of the original Stargirl?" Alex now asked.

"I found her stuff, this costume and whatnot. She fought in World War 2 as part of some Justice Society, but she died young. Why?" Courtney asked.

"Well, that Stargirl had a son before she died, that son was raised by her relatives and he eventually went on to have a daughter – you," Alex explained, Courtney pausing at this.

"Me? How… How do you know that?" Courtney asked.

"The DEO knows a lot, Miss Whitmore," Alex stated, smirking.

"So… the original Stargirl was my grandmother?" Courtney asked.

"Indeed. And you're right about being named after her, as her name was also Courtney Whitmore," Alex added.

"This is all just a little convenient," Nia pointed out now.

"I think it's perfect," Courtney turned to her friend. "Everything makes sense! My dream about Cosmo before I got him, the fact that Cosmo works for me, my dad… it's great!" Courtney grinned now.

"That said, why come all this way to see us?" Nia asked Alex now, turning back to the woman.

"Because we have procedures to follow through. The Cosmic Staff went missing from our DEO storage and was then seen with your friend here. We need to rubber-stamp the whole thing, make sure everything is proper," Alex explained. "I need to do a report."

"Well, you've done that now. Unless you're offering us in the Justice League, there's not much else in it for you, is there?" Nia asked, all defensive.

"Nia…" Courtney reasoned.

"No, no she's right. We're not offering any League positions. In fact, I don't have the authority to offer a League position and now my work is done here, it's time I leave. But just know, the DEO is keeping tabs on you," Alex stated to the women, Nia opening her mouth to respond but Courtney stopped her friend. "Both of you," now that she knew Dreamer was here, she was interested to know more about this world's alien hero.

Smirking, Alex turned to head out of the alleyway, glad to have done some proper DEO business for the first time in a long while. She paused though, not turning back to face the two heroes she knew were still there but deciding to add more to her speech.

"I am sure the Justice League will be interested too, so don't be shocked if they come around to check you out. They like keeping their eyes on promising new heroes." She didn't turn to get their reaction to that as he went back to her car to drive away.

-SuperEarth-

Back at Kara and Barry's townhouse, silence had fallen over the group as the conversation about Lena Keirnan had fallen short and the multiverse had been explained to Sam.

"Thank you again for letting me stay," Sam broke the silence, she having taken in what the two had told her about the multiverse and kind of upset they knew so little about her own alternates beyond a handful of worlds. It was something she was curious about but there had been very little the two could share.

"Think nothing of it," Kara stated.

"We have room to spare," Barry added.

"This is a five-bedroom townhouse, after all," Kara continued; Sam was staying in the guest room, which was where Kara's multiversal hitchhiking twin sister, Kayla, had stayed when covering as Supergirl for Kara's pregnancy.

"You are family now," Barry added, just as Zari came into the room. The 12-year-old smiling at Samantha. Lara, who had settled in front of the cot with the babies in, gave a welcoming whine to the girl, wagging her tail.

"Hi," Sam addressed Zari.

"Hi Aunty Sam," Zari smiled at the woman. That had been an easy name for Zari and her sister to pick up. "Daddy Barry," she didn't waste time in addressing Barry, which raised an eyebrow from the man, "when are the Totem Bearers getting together?"

"Oh," Barry paused at this as Sam frowned.

"Totem Bearers?" Sam asked.

"The Totems of Zambezi," Kara supplied for her new sister, "the item that gives Vixen her powers is one of them – there are 6 in total, Zari is the True Bearer of the Air Totem but Barry, his powers coming from the same source, is going to wield it on her behalf."

"Oh," Sam wasn't sure what to say to that.

"There's been mention of a darkness coming that the Totem Bearers are needed for," Barry added to Sam. "You see, the Totems can combine to make a great power, but all 6 bearers need to be in sync for that to happen."

"Daddy Barry is meant to be arranging a get-together, so all Totem Bearers are in sync," Zari added. "And I was hoping I could be there to watch…?"

"Well, 6 working adults…" Barry tried to explain to his adopted daughter now, "it's hard to get all 6 in the same place at the same time, especially if I have to consider your school and extracurricular schedules."

"Well, that won't stop this darkness," Kara mused, teasingly. "In fact, if the multiverse being cut off is part of that, then you need to get it sorted sooner, rather than later."

"Of course," Barry nodded. "I've already got the group text sorted; just getting everyone fixed on a date to be free. I have plans for us all."

"Plans?" Sam asked, but Barry smirked at this.

"Where's your sister?" Kara moved the conversation on as she addressed Zari.

"Doing homework," Zari shrugged.

"Why don't you go and help her?" Barry asked. "Aunty Sam can help, too," he glanced at Sam who raised an eyebrow at him.

"Very well," Sam stated, getting up as Zari frowned but lead Sam out of the room.

Why evacuate the room? Kara asked Barry mentally, through their bond.

I… didn't mean to. Barry paused, realizing he had done just that. But I am concerned. I have been thinking of my visit to the Speed Force…

Yeah, the one where you forgot to tell New Justice Rae we are cut off from them, Kara thought back, annoyance in her thought.

Yes… that one. Barry went red at that. I need to make a Speed Force duplicate, remember? That's all part of this darkness stuff and how I'm able to be a speedster and a Totem Bearer at the same time.

Well, Rae said it was something about running back in time, Kara shrugged. You did it once to save me. Now you need to do it to save the world.

Yeah, Barry didn't sound convinced though. I'm also concerned about New Justice. They are meant to be facing the same evil as us. Do they know what they are facing? If we could communicate there could be so many answers.

I'm worried about New Justice – and the entire multiverse – too. But we must focus on our darkness. We won't know much until we face it, Kara reasoned. What you–

At that moment, though, both their phones, plus Sam's, went off at the same time. They frowned at one another as they reached for their phones but paused at the text message received.

From an unknown sender, the simple message read: He will ascend, and humanity will collapse under him.

"What the…?" Both Kara and Barry said together.

-SuperEarth-

Alex was on the road heading back from Blue Valley to Central-National City.

The trip was a long one, so she had decided to take a break at a rest stop on the way, and after visiting the bathroom, she went to get something to eat. That was when her phone went off. In fact, everyone's phone went off all at the same time.

"Interesting…" Alex mused as she pulled out her phone, like many others around her. She joined in everyone's confusion at the message received.

From an unknown sender, the simple message read: He will ascend, and humanity will collapse under him.

"I guess my break's over…" Alex stated, turning to head to the exit. If everyone had got the same message, she had to find out who was behind it, why it was sent, what it meant and, most importantly, how she, the DEO and the Justice League, could prepare…

Chapter Text

-Several Months Ago-

Rory 'Ragman' Regan and Ralph 'Elongated Man' Dibney were both nervous. They were in the Justice League headquarters, Fort Rozz, and were waiting for the leaders of the Justice League, Supergirl and the Flash, to arrive.

Rory had been working as part of Team Arrow for a while now, but wasn't part of the League, having been discovered by Team Arrow a year prior – he was a meta, of sorts, having powers from magical rags that helped take down enemies and protect those around him; Ralph had been in the game for a while, able to stretch and shrink himself, and use his powers to change his body and appearance. He had been working, mainly in Austin, Texas and had been solo until he'd come face-to-face with Vixen, who had seen his potential and taken him under her wing, mentoring him whenever she was down in Texas.

Now, both Team Arrow and Vixen had put their protegees forward for League membership, which was down to the leaders, Supergirl and the Flash, to decide on. Unlike other worlds in the multiverse, where members were put up for a vote and either had to get a majority or unanimous vote from all members, here the two leaders had final say who was in and who was out. So far, they hadn't kicked anyone out of the League, even if Crisis had changed a few members for Kara.

This was both Rory and Ralph's first time in this headquarters, too. Team Arrow and Vixen had been told they could not bring non-members unless it was for the vote, which was today. Both were impressed by the place, though – which was a large hall within Fort Rozz.

There was rush of wind Kryptonian and a flash of Speedster light now as the leaders arrived; given this was an important day, too, all the League were present, from Superman, to Firestorm, Batwoman, to White Rabbit, Quickspeed to Angel, and much more. It was somewhat intimidating for the newbies, having everyone around them.

"Alright, everyone," Supergirl began, her voice commanding yet upbeat. "It's been quite some time since we last considered adding new members to the League."

With a thoughtful expression, the Flash chimed in, "In fact, I believe most of you were practically members of the League from the moment we established it."

Supergirl nodded in agreement before continuing, her enthusiasm evident. "That being said, we have two new heroes whose applications we need to discuss today."

She gestured toward the front, where the two figures stood: Ragman, draped in his tattered, mystical rags that shimmered with an otherworldly glow, and Elongated Man, who had a playful grin on his face. "Ragman, from Team Arrow, and Elongated Man, a trusted ally of Vixen," the Flash clarified, acknowledging Green Arrow and Vixen, who had happily escorted the newcomers forward.

"After extensive deliberation – taking into account their strengths, teamwork abilities, and how they perform in combat – we have reached a decision," Supergirl declared, her eyes shining with determination.

"Yes," the Flash echoed simply, glancing at Ralph and Rory, who exchanged glances filled with anticipation and anxiety.

"Congratulations!" Supergirl said with a playful smirk, the tension in the hall lifting.

"You're both officially in!" the Flash added, prompting an eruption of applause from the rest of the League members. Green Arrow, grinning widely, clapped Rory on the back, while Vixen, filled with joy, turned to envelop Ralph in a warm hug.

"Welcome to the League, Ragman and Elongated Man," Supergirl concluded, her voice filled with warmth and camaraderie. The atmosphere buzzed with excitement as the newest members were embraced into their heroic family.

In that moment, as laughter and cheers echoed around them, Ragman and Elongated Man realized the immense opportunity before them; they stood not just as heroes, but as part of a close-knit team dedicated to making the world a safer place. With renewed determination and the support of their new friends, they felt ready to face whatever challenges lay ahead, confident in their newfound roles within the League. This began their journey, not merely as individual heroes but as part of something much larger, a united force for good, ready to defend justice and inspire hope.

-SuperEarth-

Mid-January 2023

Kara, Alex and Sam were in the Allen townhouse, having a girl's day in. Barry had taken Zari and Adri out with his sister, Mila, while Caitlin, as their nanny, had taken the twins out – along with Lara the dog, who was always by the babies' sides now, when not out as Superdog.

Following the strange text message that had gone out the other day, and finding out it had gone global, Alex and the DEO had been circulating the news that the text was some prank done by hackers and that there was nothing to worry about. It seemed most of the news networks believed their story, but there were always a few groups out there who thought differently, throwing out conspiracy theories and unbacked beliefs.

Of course, the DEO were doing their research to find out who had sent out that message, and while it had gone to everyone who had a cell phone, there were a lot of algorithms to go through to find the true culprit, which would take time – mainly for Cisco and Winn Ramon, the brothers in charge of the DEO technology department.

With nothing to do at the DEO, and Supergirl currently not needed, Alex had gone over to her sisters', especially given her best friend, Sam Arias, was also currently living with her sister.

Kara, for her part, was slowly getting back into working after both maternity leave and a change of career – being an Editor now at CatCo – so was taking the chance to work from home today, to just chill and get her head around her new career. With Alex coming over and Sam with no job presently, she was more than happy to just chill with the other girls.

"I got to say," Sam was the one to speak at this, "it's weird knowing I'm your sister – both of yours."

"It seems great to me," Alex stated, leaning back on the sofa, "it's not every day your best friend turns out to be your sister."

"Well, technically my biological sister," Kara pointed out giving a smile at the conversation anyway; while Sam had been revealed to be Kara's biological sister, Alex and Sam had since decided they were sisters too due to their link with Kara, even though Kara and Alex didn't share blood.

"And you're my adopted sister, ergo, that makes Sam my sister too," Alex pointed out, to a smirk from Sam. Kara raised an eyebrow at this, not sure that was how it worked, but didn't to argue the point. She was happy for them, anyway, knowing how close Sam and Alex had been and how they were becoming again. "How are you getting on with your Kryptonian powers?" Alex now added to Sam.

"Ah," Sam frowned at that. "Well, not that great so far…"

"They're not always there," Kara supplied. "I think they work on recall but it's hard for Sam to recall anything Kryptonian since that was all Reign and that personality is now gone."

"I don't even know if I want the powers," Sam shrugged at that.

"Well, you do have them, we know that – and knowing how to control them is better than, say, if they were bottled up now and had to come to the surface in an explosion of power later," Alex pointed out.

"That's true," Sam nodded.

"And from what we have been able to piece together, you do have solar energy in your body. It's just not working the same as other Kryptonians, so the idea of it suddenly bursting out is not too farfetched," Kara added; Barry had brought Sam to his lab own the other day to run some tests. "We should do more training and researching on your powers."

"Okay, okay, I'll try," Sam said holding up her hands in defense. Part of Sam didn't want to recall the powers, but part of her knew the two were right and, yet still another part knew she would want to be able to help defend the people she loved if needed.

"And hey, if you get used to the powers, you could get into the League," Alex now smirked.

"Oh no, the Justice League is not for me," Sam frowned at that.

"Even though your sister is the leader of the League?" Kara pointed out.

"Aren't you both in the League, though?" Sam turned to Alex at this.

"Well, I helped Kara set up Fort Rozz as the base, and given the DEO still uses Fort Rozz for our more powerful prisoners, I need to oversee things there, but really I'm just a Friend of the League," Alex stated.

"Friend of the League? That's a cool title," Sam mused.

"Reminds me of New Justice," Kara responded, with a small sad smile, thinking of her fellow Paragon world who she couldn't get in touch with.

"New Justice?" Sam asked at this.

"Oh, one of the worlds in the multiverse," Alex stated. "Kara explained the multiverse to you, right?"

"Yeah, it's like that TV show, Sliders," Sam nodded.

"Well, on New Justice, their Flash is a woman called Rae, Barry's cousin," Kara explained. "She's the Leader of the Justice League, with my alternative as her second – it's a little different to how we run the League here, but Alex is right, we do have our own sort of Friends of the League category, of sorts. John Constantine and Adam Grant are part of it."

"Adam Grant?" Sam asked; she'd met John Constantine already.

"Cat Grant's son. He has the power to make illusions, in fact, his meta name is 'Illusion'," Kara supplies. Despite being an original member of the Justice League, Adam Grant had decided to unofficially pull out of the League a while ago; it hadn't helped for Kara that the Infinite Crisis had somehow changed his appearance, changing him from a reasonably handsome brunette to a more attractive dirty blonde, presumably taking after his mother more, confusing the hero the first time she'd crossed paths with the man after Crisis.

"Oh, that's him, I remember a few articles about him last year," Sam shrugged at that. "But I want to know more about this Rae now. Like, does she exist here?"

"Sadly not," Kara took the lead on that; even though Alex had the multiverse system and controlled it, Kara herself knew the multiverse better, being a Paragon. "On some worlds, Barry's dad was born with a twin brother, and it's he who had Rae, so on worlds where Barry's dad isn't a twin, it means Rae was never born."

"Oh, that's sad," Sam mused at that.

"It can be, but with the Raes that are about, they seem to populate the multiverse enough that we don't really notice worlds without them. I know Barry would love having a Rae here, but New Justice Rae seems to not enjoy other hers unless they're teenagers so it might be better that we don't have one here," Kara mused as Alex laughed at this.

"You seem to know a lot about this New Justice and their Rae," Sam pointed out, leaving the sentence hanging.

"Well, she's a fellow Paragon, like me, and we Paragons are quite close…" Kara fell silent at this as Alex put a hand on Kara's, knowing why she was suddenly sad at this.

"The multiverse is currently cut off from us, it's becoming quite a strain on Kara," Alex supplied to Sam, who decided not to question this as they let Kara muse sadly.

"When we get the connection back, I'll introduce you to her," Kara said after a moment. "If everything is alright on New Justice."

"What do you mean if everything is alright?" Alex asked.

Kara took a breath. She and Barry had decided to keep his meeting in the Speed Force between them but right now Kara wanted to tell her sisters. "Barry was called into the Speed Force right after we stopped you as Reign," Kara said, and Sam was obviously confused but let Kara keep talking and didn't ask. "Well, Rae was there too. The Speed Force wanted to warn both of a danger that is coming – the same danger for both worlds in different way. Whatever we are facing, Rae is too."

Alex looked at Kara for a moment and then nodded, knowing this was information Kara didn't need to share – even with her.

"They will be fine," Alex stated, calmly. "They always are, and they have had some weird enemies. We'll get our multiverse connection back and you will get the other Paragons back," Alex moved over, bringing Kara into a hug which Kara leaned into. Sam stayed back letting the two have a moment; she might be their sister – Kara's biologically – but she didn't grow up with them and this felt like a moment just for them.

-SuperEarth-

Courtney Whitmore flew over her town. She had just got back from school when she got the text from Nia about Sportsmaster and hadn't wasted time, grabbing her costume and Cosmo to join her friend in a fight.

She was thankful her mom wasn't too curious over what she did outside of school, and that her stepdad was preoccupied with his own son, Courtney's stepbrother, who was in some trouble this week regardless. Still, she knew she needed to tell her family what extracurricular activities she had been doing eventually.

Now flying over the town, much like when she first met Nia, Courtney could see her friend's blue energy as she was in a fight with the man known as Sportsmaster – he was as athletic as she was, but stronger than either of the women. He'd been plaguing the two heroes for a few days now, committing crimes and stealing things, doing the usual bank robbery, and always avoided the police, so it seemed to be up to her and Nia as heroes to take him on.

Getting close to the fight, Courtney suddenly found herself falling from the sky as Cosmo stopped working. She screamed as she fell, but a blue light of energy caught her as Nia used her powers to protect her friend, to save her.

"Sportsmaster!" Courtney shouted, noticing the man using the opportunity to run off from the battle with Dreamer.

"Your safety is more important," Nia stated as Courtney safely reached the ground, turning to see Sportsmaster far off already and sighing. She turned back to Stargirl. "What is going on with that Staff?"

"I don't know. I assume he doesn't cut out normally… he's been like this ever since I got him," Courtney mused sadly as she shook the Staff, but the light didn't come back on.

"It did that when the DEO agent came to visit," Nia mused.

"I thought he wanted me to talk to Ms. Danvers then, but maybe not…" Courtney frowned, shaking Cosmo now to see if it would work again.

"It may not be a good idea for you to join me if Cosmo–" Nia began.

"No," Courtney stated, quickly. "He works most of the time, just because he's flagging a bit… I mean, he's not been used in battle since the 1940s!" As he said this, the Staff lit up again. "See? He's okay now."

"But we can't have you falling from the skies again," Nia pointed out.

"Just try to stop me," Courtney smirked as she raised the Staff and, indeed, took the skies once more.

Nia groaned as Courtney flew off in the direction Sportsmaster had gone.

"Teenagers," Nia sighed to herself, now following Stargirl on foot to make sure the girl didn't get into more trouble.

-SuperEarth-

Back in the townhouse, Alex had decided to make the trio some tea, to take Kara's mind off the multiverse – or lack thereof for the moment. Sam was watching her sister, Kara, in thought as Kara checked her phone. Sam could see it was a group text but not the exact words.

"If I'm to be a Friend of the League, who else is in the League?" Sam spoke up, deciding to get Kara's mind off her missing friends.

"Huh?" Kara looked at her sister now, putting her phone back. "Who else is in the League…?"

"Yeah, it's not really made public on who's in the League, and knowing Alex, John Constantine and Cat Grant's son are Friends of the League, it would be cool to know who exactly is in the League itself," Sam reasoned.

"Well, I don't see the harm," Kara supplied as Alex came back in with a tray and some tea; Sam claimed one mug before Alex put it down, while Kara waited until the tray was set down.

"The harm in what?" Alex asked, having missed Sam's question.

"On telling Sam who's in the League," Kara explained, taking a sip of tea. "Oh, that's good," she added of the drink.

"Oh. Yeah, it would be good to be reminded of that myself," Alex mused of who was in the League. "I know that Elongated Man and Ragman were introduced a few months ago but I forget who else in in it…"

"Well, yes there's them, but firstly there's me and Barry – Supergirl and the Flash," Kara explained for Sam's benefit. "We're the Leaders of the League, we made the League – well, we were inspired by other worlds with a League so decided to make our own – and we make the big decisions that are needed for the League."

"Makes sense," was all Sam said, sipping her tea.

"Of course there's our cousin, Superman," Kara smiled at that.

"Clark," Sam nodded, having met Clark recently – he had been very friendly and was just as handsome as the media made him. He and his wife, Lois, were co-Editor-in-Chiefs at the Daily Planet now and were doing well. They also had two children: Jason and Ellen.

"Then there's Green Arrow and the Canaries; Black, White and Grey Canary," Kara explained of Oliver and Laurel Queen, Laurel's sister Sara Lance and their cousin, Dinah Drake. "They were one of the firsts in the League," Oliver and Laurel were married and were expecting a child via surrogate, while Sara was in a relationship with Nyssa al Ghul. Dinah was firmly single.

"We've got Firestorm, too," Alex pointed out, starting on her tea now.

"Isn't that two people in one?" Sam asked, frowning at this.

"Yeah, the Firestorm matrix that makes them combined; Martin Stein and Jefferson Jaxon when activated by Enchantress's spell that made metas on this world," Alex explained for Sam.

"That must be weird for them," Sam mused.

"Well, you have some experience with that," Kara winked at her sister, who paused at that. It was true, when Reign had been activated within her, she had temporarily developed a sort of dual personality, although surely it would have been different to Firestorm.

"We also have the Ramon brothers," Alex spoke up now. "Cisco and his adopted brother, Winn," while their identities weren't public knowledge, the fact that they worked for the DEO like Martin and Jefferson, Alex didn't see the harm in releasing these details to Sam.

"That's Vibe and…?" Sam remembered one, but not the other.

"Stopwatch," Kara stated. "He can freeze time temporarily."

"Like Piper in Charmed?" Sam asked.

"Actually, just like her," Alex laughed, not having realized that until now.

"Then there's Orb and Quickspeed," Kara supplied.

"Belle and Jesse Wells," Alex stated, one was an employee of the DEO, the other now worked with Barry as part of WellsAllen Tech.

"Quickspeed, the other speedster, right?" Sam asked.

"The very same," Kara nodded, not giving more information on this for now. Crisis had changed a few things from when they had started the League, as Kara was sure their Jesse hadn't been a speedster in this world before Crisis, but it didn't matter on the great scheme of things and Jesse worked well as a speedster on other worlds. "Orb can teleport and heal. Of course, we can't forget Vixen, too," she continued listing their League members

"One of the Totem Bearers who Barry and the other Bearers need to bond with for this oncoming darkness," Sam spoke up at that, remembering Barry and Zari explaining this to her the other day.

"Don't get me started on that…" Alex frowned, taking another sip of her tea. They still didn't know what this darkness was or why the Totems were needed for it and that annoyed Alex, who liked to keep on top of the Big Bads of this world.

"Well, there's also Batwoman and White Rabbit," Kara moved on, speaking of the Kane sisters in Gotham. "They're original members too. Nice women, also."

"Is Catwoman part of the League too?" Sam asked at this.

"No. She's on probation in general, working with Batwoman and White Rabbit as part of the Bat-Team, but right now, not even considered for the League," Kara explained; that had been an odd one when a meta woman with cat-like abilities had been robbing banks in Gotham and was finally caught by Batwoman and her sister. After some consideration from those two, they'd offered her a chance to do good, but she had long way to go before she was considered for the League.

"Oh, and don't forget the Assassin," Alex smirked, as Kara nodded at her sister for this.

"Assassin… She's the one who works with Team Arrow, right?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, trained by the League of Assassins like White Canary. She does good now," Kara glanced to Alex at this with a small smile; the Assassin was, in fact, Nyssa al Ghul, daughter of Ra's al Ghul and Sara's long-term girlfriend. When she'd left the League of Assassins, Team Arrow had taken her in, with her and Sara restating their relationship after that.

"And then there's Angel," Alex added at that.

"Oh yeah, he can fly and has tech that helps," Kara stated, not revealing his identity, but this was Wally West, Jesse's husband and father to her three children. Unlike other worlds where he was a speedster, Enchantress's spell had given him the power of flight – similar to Jess Morgan on New Justice.

"What about ATOM? Is he in the League?" Sam asked at this, the connection there with the flying.

"Despite being very public of late, no," Kara mused. "He's close though and is a good friend to Barry outside of the hero work. We need to decide on him soon, really."

"Before the name Kermit overtakes ATOM," Alex added, causing Kara to laugh at this.

"I'm sorry?" Sam asked looking between the two but glad her distraction had made Kara laugh.

"It's something Vixen started," Kara explained. "ATOM wanted in the League when he started, but Vixen said he was too green to be in, so gave him the nickname Kermit due to being green and it's kind of… well… stuck in the League. We must stop that though, it's unfair on him."

"Still…" Alex pointed out to her sister.

"Still," Kara agreed. "And I think that's about it in the League." Again, Crisis had changed a few things about the League, with some previously included members nowhere to be found on this world, but that hadn't bothered Kara too much.

"What about Kandar?" Sam asked about their brother.

"Oh yeah. No, he's not in the League or even Friends Of," Kara explained. "He grew up on Daxam surrounded by Kryptonite after Krypton explosion. That has made it, so his powers aren't quite the same. He had super strength but can't fly and only has laser vision, not x-ray vision or even freeze breath. Besides, he doesn't even want into the superhero game so that's fine, his choice," Kara explained with a shrug, taking another sip of tea now.

"But hey, he's with Winn and is your brother so it's not like he needs to be in the League from that side of things," Alex added.

"Very true," Kara smiled, thinking of her brother.

"You forgot one," Alex suddenly realized. "Lara!"

"Oh Rao, thank Rao she's not here or she'd bite my hand off," Kara joked at this. "Yes, Lara, my dog, is Superdog – obviously."

"Considering I've seen her flying carrying the babies, and that you're Supergirl, that makes sense," Sam pointed out.

"She loves those babies, they're practically her own puppies," Alex mused at this, just as her phone went off.

"Lara takes after her dad. He was very protective over his human babies too," Kara mused about her dog.

"Where did you get her?" Sam asked, wondering if there were other Kryptonian dogs about.

"She was a gift from Karry Universe and Prime," Kara said, smiling as she mentioned the two other Paragon worlds. "Their Kryptonian dogs had puppies, so they spread them through the multiverse. If you want one, I am sure we can get you a dog or cat when we get the connection back. Kryptonian Sanctuaries are a thing on several worlds." Kara smiled again as she thought of the worlds, just as Alex stood up. "Alex…?"

"We have an update on that weird text," Alex stated, suddenly in Director-of-the-DEO-mode.

"Oh yeah, 'He will ascend, and humanity will collapse under him'." Sam quoted.

"Don't," Alex pointed out to Sam. "But I've got to go. I'll let you know more when everything's confirmed," Alex was already heading to the door now.

"Bye," Kara and Sam called to their sister as they took a drink of their own tea simultaneously.

-SuperEarth-

A week before Harrison Wells planned on turning on the Particle Accelerator at STAR Labs, the government had stepped in and turned his laboratory into the Central-National Headquarters for the DEO. It had been unexpected, but given Dr. Wells was still well paid and able to work on other inventions, he wasn't too bothered.

Then came Enchantress, meta humans, Jeremiah Danvers' illness and death, and Alex Danvers taking over as Director of the DEO. Things started to change as Alex turned STAR Labs back to science, claiming an old warehouse some blocks away and converting it into a proper DEO facility, even moving the less dangerous criminals there, instead of leaving them to rot in the pipeline.

It was there, in the official warehouse facility where Alex now walked into, all business as her second- and third-in-command, Agents Vasquez and Valdes, ran up to her, all business.

"Director Danvers," Vasquez stated instantly.

"You have news," Alex said, heading to her office as she nodded at some of the agents nearby.

"The Ramon brothers have been working around the clock to find out where the text message came from," Valdes spoke as they entered Alex's office.

"Where are Cisco and Winn?" Alex frowned, wondering why those two weren't the ones giving her an update.

"Busy. League business, apparently," Vasquez said of this – again, due to the DEO helping fund the League with Fort Rozz, it was common knowledge among those within the DEO who their colleagues were in the Justice League. Outside the DEO though, their identities were top secret.

"Okay," Alex didn't bother questioning this now, wondering what League business her colleagues were working on. "But what have you discovered?"

"The text originated from L-Corp," Valdes stated, causing Alex to pause.

"L-Corp? Lena Keirnan?" Alex asked.

"We don't know if it was her or not, we've tried reaching out to the company, but had no response," Vasquez explained.

"Shame I can't use Sam to find out more," Alex frowned at this. "Okay, so what exactly do we know about the text?"

"Nothing more than everyone else," Valdes stated. "It was sent globally, all at the same time, to every cell phone on the planet. No ID. We don't know what the message referred to, who, or why it was sent out. We don't even know if was an actual prank or not from L-Corp."

"If only it was," Alex mused, instinctively knowing it couldn't be a prank, given this was the news that the DEO had put out to cover and quell fears from the text.

"Now we know it's L-Corp, we could send soldiers to the building, to shut them down," Vasquez pointed out to Alex.

"No… no," Alex frowned, thinking things through. "We don't want to make more of a scene than already has been caused. Especially after we already covered for this claiming it was a prank. I think a visit to Ms. Kiernan is in order…"

As she said this, she wondered what Lena had done with the odd purple gem Alex had sent her. She had been protective over it, but with the threat of John Constantine forcefully taking it away from her, Alex had taken steps to protect it. Her mind hadn't been on that gem in a while but now she had an opportunity to go talk to Lena she might as well ask about it too.

"We would suggest going with some soldiers, just to be on the safe side, then," Valdes pointed out.

"Yes… yes," Alex nodded. "I think you two will come with me."

"Us?" Both agents asked as one.

"You're both very capable. We need to gather more evidence though; Lena is quite within her rights to deny all knowledge of this and deny us even seeing her. Hopefully myself going will get us in through the doors. We know each other," Alex reasoned. "Once we've got that, we can go to L-Corp and find out more."

"Ma'am," both agents saluted at that.

"Anything else?" Alex asked.

"Yes, John Constantine left a message for you," Vasquez added as Valdes left the office.

"Oh?" Alex asked before shrugging. "Tell me later…" she wasn't the biggest John Constantine fan these days – in fact, her on-again/off-again relationship with the man was currently very much off-again and she didn't really want to start it any time soon.

"Very well, ma'am," Vasquez saluted, exiting the office herself now, leaving Alex to muse things over.

-SuperEarth-

That night, Kara and Barry were in bed.

With Alex leaving Kara and Sam earlier, Kara had gone back to officially working from home, while Sam had busied herself looking for new jobs. Barry had returned soon after, having been shopping with the girls and Mila, while Caitlin had returned just before her shift was over, returning the babies – and the dog – to their parents.

The evening had been the usual affair and, although both parents hadn't had very busy days, per se, they were glad the day was over.

Now lying in bed, with Lara at the end of the bed near the crib with the babies in, the couple had a chance to go through their respective days in their heads.

L-Corp? Really? Barry asked Kara through their bond; she had shared the update from Alex to Barry that the company had sent the strange text message.

Apparently so, Kara stated back; the pair were happy to talk through their bond tonight, rather than verbally. Although for what reason is beyond me. I can't imagine any version of Lena Luthor doing something like this. She's not evil. Honestly, it's almost a law of the multiverse – and, come to think of it, since we Paragons rebooted the multiverse, it might actually be law.

Then it might not have been Lena, Barry reasoned, could be anyone in the company. Lena is still new with everyone, after all.

That's true, Kara mused. But every phone in the world? I didn't even think L-Corp had that kind of tech.

Who knows what our L-Corp has, Barry sighed at this.

True. Anyway, how was shopping? Kara moved the conversation on.

Good. I treated the girls to their favorite lunch and then we looked at toys. Zari got some make-up, too. Mila also wants to know if you're free this week for your weekly catch up, Barry remembered this.

Ah yeah. I had to cancel last week. No, I should be okay. Maybe she can come here this time? Meet Sam, Kara thought back. While she was warming to their version of Amelia Allen, she still wasn't entirely sure about her, and having Sam around as a barrier would work nicely for her.

Of course, Barry knew exactly why Kara wanted Sam there, but decided not to argue it. Oh, we finally have a date for the Totems Bearers get-together!

Oh? Kara was intrigued by this.

On Saturday, Barry stated, happily.

What's the plan? Kara asked, knowing the Totem Bearers needed to bond. On Karry Universe, they'd done this by being trapped in their League headquarters on the moon. Kara still laughed at the story Karry's Kara and Barry had shared: they had managed to escape from the moon and tried to trap a serial killer. It had apparently worked, considering the Totem Bearers there now were like family to each other when before they could barely stand each other.

It may sound corny but team building exercises. There are courses offered at a nearby Activities Center, there's things like Escape Rooms and assault courses. I think it will be fun, Barry smirked at this.

Just make sure no one uses their powers, Kara reasoned.

I'm pretty sure I'm the only one in the group with powers without their Totem, Barry pointed out; Mila, the Bearer of the Death Totem, had her powers taken a while back; Mari, the Bearer of the Spirit Totem, only had powers with the Totem, and then same for the rest of them. Even Ray, who bore the Water Totem, didn't have powers – using his ATOM suit instead.

Good point, Kara nodded.

On that note, let's settle down. Another day of who-knows-what tomorrow, Barry leaned over to kiss Kara, who returned the kiss.

'Night, Kara said back to her husband, falling back into the bed as Lara gave a small bark at the end of the bed, as if telling the couple 'goodnight' too, sensing it was time to sleep.

"Night Lara," Barry responded aloud to the dog, causing Kara to chuckle as she settled down to sleep. Lara whined happily.

Chapter Text

Pardon My Past

Several Weeks Ago

Sam Arias was in Fort Rozz, although she wasn't quite herself as she thrashed about on the floor. She was dressed all in black with a black mask on her face, because she was Reign – and John Constantine was attempting to remove the Kryptonian personality while AJ Palmer, Ray Palmer's sister, used her powers to keep Reign down.

"You will… not stop… the Cult of Juru…" Reign called, but her voice changed as she writhed, "please… save me Alex…" it was the voice of Sam. "Help me…" but her voice changed again, as John continued to chant, Reign letting out heat vision which didn't penetrate the magical shell of AJ's making, confirming that they definitely should have had AJ there from the beginning. "Juru will endure, they will… return…" but as she spoke, her lit-up eyes flickered and suddenly she let out a breath and collapsed backward.

"John?" AJ asked, not sure how long she could continue the spell keeping Reign at bay, but it seemed it wasn't needed as the mask on Reign's face began to disintegrate, revealing Samantha Arias beneath, breathing deeply, her eyes closed.

"It… worked," John stated, almost in disbelief, Alex moving over quickly to support her boyfriend, who was weakened from both the use of magic and the injury he'd received from Reign earlier.

As everyone's attention shifted to Sam, now free from Reign, a green energy, unnoticed by others, moved from Sam to John. It swirled around him, pulsating with an eerie glow before forming into a solid object in John's hand.

"Reign and the Cult of Juru..." John muttered under his breath; his voice barely audible. As the green light faded, it revealed a smooth, dark stone resting in his palm, shimmering faintly with residual power. "Well, it had to go somewhere," he mused, pocketing the mysterious stone.

Despite the curious artifact now in his possession, John couldn't ignore the sharp pain coursing through his body. He'd been injured during the confrontation with Reign, and the adrenaline was beginning to wear off, leaving him wincing in agony. His clothes were torn and bloodied, and it was clear that he needed medical attention urgently.

-SuperEarth-

Present Day / Mid-January 2023

It had taken several weeks, but Barry had finally arranged for a Totem Bearers get-together.

While Zari had wanted to tag along, given she would ultimately be the Bearer of the Air Totem and, thus, a Totem Bearer with the remaining five for life, the date in question hadn't allowed her to tag along – she had tennis practice, which Alex had taken her to. Kandar had agreed at the penthouse with the twins, Adri and Lara the dog. Kara had business with Sam Arias and AJ Palmer.

The Totems Bearers, consisting of Barry himself, his sister Mila, scientist Ray Palmer, the immovable Caitlin Raymond, nee Snow, Nora Darkh – now Nora Ford – and, of course, Vixen herself, Mari McCabe, had had breakfast together already at a local diner, before heading to the Activities Center which Barry had booked out for the morning.

There were three team bonding activities that Barry had planned for the group: an obstacle course, some brain teasers, and an Escape Room that the Center offered.

"I'm quite looking forward to an Escape Room," Nora voiced to the adults; she was the youngest in the group but knew Barry well due to her history of helping the girls, Zari and Adri, for the past few months.

"Me too," Barry pointed out. "You know, I've never done one before…"

"I did one with my husband when we were dating; I wasn't impressed," Caitlin pointed out. "He and his science buddies solved it in like five minutes."

"Not the best one for them to do then," Mari remarked.

"Me and Crystal did one when I first moved in with her. It was a Disney rip-off almost exactly like that monster movie," Mila mused.

"Monsters Inc?" Barry asked.

"Yeah that's the one. Not really my thing," Mila said and Barry gave Mila a look then shook his head; the difference between the two Amelia Allen's he was closest to was amazing considering also how similar they were as well. "What? I like the princess movies. The Little Mermaid and Tangled," Mila defended herself, but Barry didn't respond to her.

"Well, I did one once as well," Ray broke up the awkwardness at this. "It was an Alice in Wonderland theme – the book, not Disney," Ray had to clarify this, "but my friend fell through the floor."

"Was that part of the experience?" Mari was intrigued by this as they entered the building.

"No, but after I sued them, it definitely won't happen again," Ray concluded, to a laugh from the group.

Barry took the lead in signing the group in before being handed their itinerary for the day – even though he had booked for the three activity sessions, they didn't know the order of them.

"Well, it looks like the Escape Room is first. Zombie themed," Barry mused, handing the paper to Ray, who frowned.

"'Doctor I. N. Sane has a cure for the apocalyptic zombification of the world, solve puzzles and find clues to unlock the cure and save the world'," Ray looked up at the group. "Very amusing…"

"What's after that?" Mila asked.

"A short break before the obstacle course," Ray still had the paperwork, they were now waiting for a member of staff to show them to the Escape Room area, "and then the brain teasers to finish."

"An indoor obstacle course," Barry mused, looking over his friend's shoulder now at the itinerary.

"Well, considering we're in the cold January…" Mila pointed out to her brother, who chuckled at that.

"Okay then, team," a somewhat bored looking girl appeared before them, "are we ready to find the curse for zombie-ism and save the world?"

"I think we are," Mari was the one to say this.

"Zombie-ism, is that even a word?" Mila asked, the girl ignored her though.

"Well, you have an hour to work through the clues to find the cure. If you fail… well, it's an Escape Room, it doesn't matter, but this is about teamwork, so you better get on well," she shrugged.

"We can try," Nora smiled at the girl, who simply stared at her.

"Before you start, does anyone need the bathroom?" The girl asked. There was confirmation that all six were alright before she moved to open a door for them. "Time starts now," she stated as the group shuffled into the room, to see a mockup of a scientific lab, with things in jars and bookcases in the room. The door closed behind them.

"Damn. I need the bathroom…" Ray spoke up at that.

"Raymond!" Barry groaned.

"What?! I didn't know there would be bubbling beakers and brains in jars! The simmering liquid…" he remarked.

"Well, hold it in and we'll get this solved," Barry stated as Ray groaned, the group beginning to search the room for clues.

-SuperEarth-

With Barry taking the morning with the other Totem Bearers and Zari at tennis practice with Alex as her chaperone, Kara had been tempted to just take the day off for herself, but as Alex had pointed out to her the other day, her new sister in Sam was a powerful Kryptonian with no control over her powers. It was something that needed correcting, and sooner, rather than later.

Meanwhile, Alex had been denied entry into L-Corp, since it was revealed to be the source of the mysterious text message; she'd gone to try to see if Lena would see her in person, but had been told to leave- but since they had found out L-Corp sent out the ominous text message about something ascending and humanity falling, it was important for them to get in the company. Alex knew she had to retreat and regroup in the DEO to figure out the best way to get into the company. She couldn't do much though today, so was happy to take Zari to her tennis.

Luckily, Kandar had been willing to babysit his nieces and nephew, with Lara the dog present, allowing Kara time with Sam to go to STAR Labs, as that was where their hero training area was. They were also joined by AJ Palmer, Ray Palmer's other worldly magical sister, who currently was stuck on SuperEarth due to their exclusive disconnect from the multiverse. Her hyperactive dog, Houdini, was running about the speedster track that surrounded the training area, using up his energy.

"I've told you; I can't recall Reign. That Constantine guy took her from me," Sam was saying as she looked around the training room – amused at the speedster track, and the dog running and barking around them.

"That he did," Kara took the lead. "But she's still part of you, as you have her powers."

"Powers I've yet to access or unlock. Are you even sure I have them?" Sam asked her sister.

"You very much do," AJ was the one to say this, as Kara took a step back, allowing AJ to take the lead there.

"Remind me who you are?" Sam asked, as kindly as she could. While AJ had helped John in containing Reign and removing that personality, she and Sam had never officially met.

"I'm Ray Palmer's sister," AJ stated. "But not from this world. The dog is mine," she pointed to the speedster track Houdini was running in.

"Oh, are you from New Justice?" Sam asked.

"New Justice…? No, I'm from the world called Legacy Earth," AJ stated. "New Justice doesn't have a me. In fact, no other world has a me, I think. I haven't explored every world, but I seem rare."

"Oh," Sam paused. "Sorry, we were just on about New Justice and their Rae the other day, I assumed… wait, I thought there were duplicates of everyone on every world? I know I'm apparently on a world called Beautiful where I am an actress…" Sam had wanted to know more about her own alternates, but Kara had only had information on that one world and with their connection severed, she could not look for information on other hers or even show Sam one of her alternate's shows. Their multiverse Netflix was not working either, much to the dismay of a few people.

"Well, I'm unique," AJ pointed out, not going into detail as she moved the conversation on. "Anyway, as I was going to say, when John removed the Reign persona, along with the Cult of Juru's bio data from you, it had to go… somewhere," from her pocket, she removed a bright green stone, not dissimilar to Kryptonite, but without the effects as Kara didn't flinch.

"What… is that?" Sam's eyes were suddenly fixed on the stone.

"It's you. Or it's half of you," AJ stated. "When John removed Reign and Juru from you, this is what it accumulated into. It's the essence of Reign, the essence of the Cult of Juru and key to unlocking your memories of Reign and accessing your powers," AJ explained.

"But… wouldn't that make me Reign again?" Sam asked, hesitant about this, concerned, as she didn't want to be Reign again.

"No," Kara was the one to say this. "I've been in discussion with John and AJ here and they confirmed that the contents of this stone cannot be transferred back into the original host, but you can use it, with AJ's help, to remember being Kryptonian, and to recall those powers."

"I don't want to use that thing every time I want to use my potential Kryptonian powers," Sam pointed out.

"You won't. With time you won't need this at all," AJ stated, tossing the stone into the air and catching it with ease. "Once you know how to unlock your powers, you won't need the Reign Stone at all."

"Reign Stone?" Sam raised her eyebrows as Kara sighed.

"I named it that," AJ shrugged.

"Much to my digression," Kara sighed as AJ moved over to Sam, who reluctantly took the Reign Stone from the magical user.

"Well?" Sam asked, her hand over the stone, but nothing seemed to happen.

"It takes more than physical contact," AJ chuckled, as she now put a hand on Sam's forehead and another on the stone.

"What are…?" Sam asked.

"It's magic," Kara was standing back, watching in bemusement now, but also a little trepidation, in case something went wrong, or Reign did, indeed, come back. John and AJ may have reassured her it wasn't possible, but she had come to expect the unexpected.

AJ began to chant something, a spell that was short and sweet as the gem in her and Sam's hand glowed for a moment. Sam gasped as she stood back, and when she did, her eyes were glowing red…

-SuperEarth-

The Totem Bearer group had completed the Escape Room in good time. They were told they even beat the current record – and had their picture taken for a wall. Finally, Ray had been able to go to the bathroom. They had a fifteen-minute break before they had to do the assault course, which was located inside the building and looked fun from what they could see of another group attempting it.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I feel good that we saved the world from becoming zombies," Mila pointed out.

"It was better than the Alice in Wonderland one I did," Ray agreed, sipping a coffee he had gotten for the break.

"Or the one I did with Ronnie and his nerds. Although I will admit that one might have been more fun if my husband and his friends hadn't completed it at light speed," Caitlin mused. "This one was clever, though, the last one with the word 'open' on the brick wall."

"Clever how Nora saw that," Barry agreed, playfully pushing the girl, who smiled.

"So, what exactly does this obstacle course consist of?" Mari moved on.

"Well, if you ask me, I will say it's a take on the Floor is Lava," Caitlin voiced, looking own at the assault course through the glass wall. "There are beams to go across, a wall to maneuver and ropes to climb, all to avoid touching the floor… I've never been good with ropes."

"Well, you don't actually climb them," Barry was watching the previous group, which was nearing the end. "You swing from them, and there's knots tied into the robes for support, see?"

"It looks like fun," Mila stated. "Reminds me of a kiddies play park."

"That's true. Minus the slide," Ray added.

"Maybe if there's a comments card on this place, we could suggest that?" Mari remarked.

"Just don't phase through anything, Barry," Ray now added; everyone in the group knew he was the Flash, after all.

"Hey, no powers today," Barry reminded them.

"I still don't know why you said not to bring our Totems, I honestly feel naked without mine," Mari pointed out. Her hand going to her neck where the Totem should be and frowning at not feeling it.

"Well, this whole morning is to make us bond so we can work together as Totem Bearers; we don't need the Totems for that," Mila pointed out to this, before Barry could remark. He raised an eyebrow, impressed by this. "Even if some of us shouldn't even have Totems."

"What do you mean?" Nora asked this.

"She means herself," Barry sighed. "Mila has a past that makes her owning a Totem… difficult."

"Well, we all have a past. What does it matter now?" Caitlin stated, moving her hand forward to put a reassuring hand on Mila's, who smiled now.

"If we're on about our pasts, mine wasn't exactly a walk in the park," Nora remarked now.

"What matters is what we do now," Mari voiced. "As Caitlin said, we all have a past."

"Exactly," Barry was glad to see the others bonding over this too.

"Besides, most of us still don't quite know how our Totems work," Caitlin moved the conversation back to not using their Totems today. "I mean, if we had our Totems on us, we could accidentally use them to make today more difficult."

"True. Barry could end up flying over the course with his Air Totem," Ray chuckled at this.

"Hey," Barry remarked, pouting now. "I'm only the temporary Bearer."

"Even so, you're needed and part of this group," Mila informed her brother. "We need to be bonded for this oncoming darkness, or whatever it is. And we are going to need to know how they work. Some day we should do a training session with the Totems, too."

"Another day," Barry agreed. "Today is bonding."

"Besides, we enjoyed the Escape Room, I think we'll do well on the course," Nora remarked, seeing the previous group had done now. "I think we'll be called shortly."

"Better finish up this coffee then," Ray remarked, having been drinking the liquid on the break.

"Just don't finish it too quickly you need the bathroom in the middle of walking a balance beam," Caitlin joked to the man, who stuck his tongue out at the woman.

-SuperEarth-

Back in STAR Labs, Sam was now floating a foot in the air above AJ and Kara, her eyes no longer glowing but a smile now on her face. Houdini had momentarily stopped his running around the speed track to bark, excitedly, at the woman.

"This is awesome!" Sam called; after her moment of shock at suddenly having powers via the Reign Stone, Sam had found she was able to control her new-found powers and quickly took the air.

"Well, it is now…" AJ stated, causing Sam to pause and float back down to them.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked, frowning at AJ.

"The spell, it's currently blocking your memories of Reign but working as recall on the powers. Kind of a cheat on being Kryptonian without learning it, but over time – and a short period of time – you'll get all that back," AJ stated.

"Wait, you said I wouldn't recall Reign!?" Sam turned on the woman.

"You won't!" AJ stated. "Just everything else that comes with being Kryptonian."

"What she means is, right now you're not experiencing the powers in their full," Kara interrupted, getting it, "but soon you will be able to just recall them and use them without that Stone – and when you do, you'll need me."

"Are they that bad?" Sam paused at this.

"Well, I can hear everything and everyone on this planet, I can see down to the core of the earth, and without control, my eyes would blow up everything I looked at. Oh, and I'd freeze people with every breath," Kara stated nonchalantly, Sam's eyes going wide in shock at this.

"But… you can control it? You and Clark?" Sam mentioned their cousin. "Even the dogs…?"

"It wasn't easy at the start – for me or Clark, even with Clark growing up with the powers, but you get used to it with time, and after time it becomes second nature," Kara assured Sam. "Like breathing. I'm not sure about the dogs though. I think it just… works for them," she'd never really thought how Kryptonian power affected the animals.

"How did you adapt? How did Clark?" Sam asked, fear in her voice.

"Clark helped me," Kara admitted. "But pure courage, and strength of will, also helped me."

"I don't know if I could…" Sam began.

"You have to," Kara put a hand on her sister's shoulder now. "You've been through a lot over the past few weeks, and this is just another thing on top of all that. You've shown tremendous amounts of courage – something I admire above everything."

"Paragon of Courage," AJ whispered under her breath, Kara nodding to the magic user.

"Paragon of what?" Sam asked.

"Not important," Kara said, not wanting to get into the Paragon stuff with her sister right now. "But you're also lucky," Kara continued. "You won't have these powers all the time. It's only when you want to use them that they will come. And only then you'll have the repercussions of those powers."

"But right now I just have the powers without those repercussions?" Sam asked.

"Exactly," AJ spoke up.

"So, why don't we test out those powers?" Kara stood back now, a smirk on her face. "Kryptonian v Kryptonian. Sister v Sister."

"Only if you're sure…" Sam mused now.

-SuperEarth-

The obstacle course had been fun for all involved – Caitlin had, actually, enjoyed swinging on the ropes – even with Barry not using his powers. None had fallen to the ground, and they had completed it in good time, again; Nora had the most fun though, still being a teenager and up for the excitement of games.

There was barely a rest from the obstacle course before it was straight on to the last task of the morning: brain teasers.

This time, the group had to be split into three – that was interesting, given that they had to choose their teammates blindfolded – with Barry being teamed with Caitlin and Mari, while Ray was with Mila and Nora. Regardless, it seemed like a good split as Barry and Ray – elected as team leaders – were handed cards with questions to read to the other team.

The rules of the game were simple: one team asked the other the question. If the team got it right in a certain time frame, they got a point. After each team was asked their ten questions, whoever had the most points at the end won.

"Alright," Barry began, going through his cards and stopping at one, giving a small chuckle. "Oh, I like. You guys ready?"

"As ever!" Mila called out, Barry smiling at his sister.

"So, a man pushes his car to a hotel and tells the owner he's bankrupt. Why?" Barry asked, his own team sounding instantly confused until he showed them the answer on the card.

"Pushes his car into a hotel…?" Ray pondered this.

"Why would you even do that if you're bankrupt?" Nora mused.

"Not to mention, a hotel wouldn't have a garage to fix it," Mila added.

"Oh, I think the answer is in the question," Ray stated, turning to his teammates as he whispered to them; Nora gave a surprised sigh while Mila gave a groan. "You think so?" his team asked.

"Go for it," Mila stated as Ray turned back to Barry.

"We think it's because he's playing Monopoly. Right?" Ray asked.

"You are brilliant! Yes, the man is playing Monopoly," Barry started the applause for his team. "One point to Ray's team. Next question?"

"Let me," Caitlin took the pile of cards they had been given before settling on one. "This is appropriate for me…" she smirked as she handed the card to Barry who chuckled before handing it back. "Okay, so a man stands on one side of a river, his dog on the other. The man calls his dog, who immediately crosses the river without getting wet and without using a bridge or a boat. How did the dog do it?" Caitlin asked.

"Oh, the dog jumped over the river!" Nora instantly tried.

"The dog isn't Superdog," Caitlin chuckled at the answer, causing Nora to pout and Barry to laugh at the response.

"What other means are there to get across a river without a bridge or a boat?" Ray turned to his team at this, adding, "or jumping…?" again the group fell into a little huddle, unsure of the answer. It was a minute or so of whispering among them before Mila took the lead and responded – they were running out of time, anyway.

"Honestly, we don't know. What is the answer?" Mila asked, Ray and Nora nodding at this.

"You'll kick yourself, Mila. It's because the river was frozen," Caitlin responded, to a pause from Mila and a laugh from Ray and Nora.

"Damn, you're right. No wonder you said it was appropriate for you, with Crystal as your sister and my… well," Mila mused; Crystal Snow being an Ice meta after all. Mila, though, made a frown and didn't say anything more about Crystal at that.

"No points there, unfortunately," Barry mused, handing the cards to Mari to read now.

"Oh, I love this one, my grandma would, too," Mari remarked of the next brain teaser. "So, a sundial has the fewest moving parts of any timepiece – which has the most?" She asked.

"Oh, timepieces," Ray remarked.

"An old-fashioned watch or clock would have a lot of dials and stuff," Nora mused.

"Cogs, you mean?" Mila asked her friend.

"True," Nora nodded. "Ray?"

"I'm thinking…" Ray remarked, frowning now as he muttered "fewest parts… most parts."

"What about a digital watch?" Nora now asked.

"Moving parts," Mila reminded her friend. "A digital watch is all wires and switchboards. It would be stiff and unmoving…"

"I've got it!" Ray cut off the other two, who turned to the man.

"Well?" Both asked.

"You don't want to discuss?" Barry asked.

"He can take it," Mila smirked now, Ray smiling at her as he looked to Mari.

"It's got to be an hourglass, right? It has thousands of grains of sand that move down to the bottom chamber," Ray explained of his answer.

"Oh, that's good!" Nora pointed, impressed at Ray's thoughts.

"And he's right," Mari stated with a smile. "It is an hourglass – for that very reason."

"Nice one!" Mila held her hand out, which Ray happily high-fived.

"Next question!" Barry had the cards back, shuffling through them again. "Oh, another fun one. Alright, what five-letter word become shorter when you add two letters to it?"

"What…?" Mila paused; her eyebrows raised at her brother.

"What five-letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?" Barry repeated, handing the card to Caitlin and Mari for them to see the answer.

"I feel like this is the Monoply question – the answer is in the question," Ray added.

"Shorter…" Nora stated, physically writing the word in the air with her finger.

"A five-letter word that gets shorter–" Mila began again for her friend.

"It's short," Nora stated, "you add two letters – e and r – to the end of it, it becomes shorter. It's wordplay," she told her two teammates.

"Is that your final answer?" Barry asked.

"Well, we're 2-0, and I have nothing else. Mila?" Ray asked.

"Let's go for it," Mila stated.

"You are right. The answer literally is 'short'," Barry stated. "Add in 'er' and it becomes shorter. Very clever."

"I'm loving this," Nora smirked, glad she'd got the answer right.

"Me too," Barry added, although his was because he was glad the six Totem Bearers were getting along so well, although the brain teasers were fun. He was looking forward to when it was his team turn to answer questions.

-SuperEarth-

Sam had held her own against Kara – to a point. She was easily able to recall the Kryptonian powers so to fight Kara, using freeze breath against her sister's heat breath and speedily dodging Kara's own freeze breath in retaliation. It was only when Sam went to punch Kara that Supergirl herself dodged the punch and got Sam into an arm twist, forcing Sam to the ground.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Sam called; despite being Kryptonian at this moment, being in an armlock with another Kryptonian proved painful.

"You give?" Kara asked.

"I give!" Sam called as Kara let Sam go, the other woman catching her breath as Kara now held out her hand to help Sam up.

"It seems Reign learned a few things you can remember," Kara commented of their fight; AJ had retreated to the speed track with her dog, to avoid being attacked in the Kryptonian fight.

"Yeah, it just… sort of came to me," Sam shrugged. "Of course, it seems like I won't remember how to do that later on."

"Actually, by doing it now as Sam, you'll remember how to do it later on, and not have to rely on Reign," AJ pointed out, returning from the speed track, Houdini now on her heel – somehow, he had used up his puppy hyper-ness.

"So… I won't need to recall Reign's powers?" Sam asked, confused.

"You never were in danger of recalling Reign herself," AJ pointed out.

"Okay. So how do I become human again?" Sam asked; AJ was now holding the Reign Stone again as Houdini rubbed against his mistress's leg.

"Just remember being you. Sam will come back by recall as much as your Kryptonian powers will come on recall," AJ stated.

"So, just remember yourself," Kara smiled at her sister, a little jealous the woman could become human on recall, as much as Kryptonian on recall.

"Right…" Sam frowned, deciding to focus on a memory of her past to become 'just Sam' again. Thinking of having coffee with Alex last year, being 'just Sam' back then. Indeed, she felt her Kryptonian powers began to dwindle and couldn't help but smile at how it worked.

"I think this worked out well," Kara stated. "Thank you, AJ," she nodded to the magic user who smiled back. "We'll let you know if we want to do another training session."

"If this is going to be a thing, and I'm to become like a backup Supergirl, I need a hero name," Sam pointed out, though.

"Well, you could just stick with Reign," AJ stated, but Houdini instantly growled at that

"Bad memories of that," Sam frowned, although amused at the little dog's reaction.

"Well, I'm not adverse to the name Super Sister," Kara pointed out, causing both AJ and Sam to laugh at this. "What? There's a world in the multiverse where my sister is literally named Super Sister."

"Which world?" Sam asked, always curious about the multiverse now.

"Twin Earth. She's not you, but my literal twin, Kayla," Kara informed Sam. "I don't think she cares so much about being a hero though. So, the name Super Sister stuck."

"Interesting. Well, I'm not against the name but I'm not exactly warming to it, either," Sam mused.

"There's also Power Girl, sometimes one word, sometimes two," AJ voiced, now to a happy bark from Houdini.

"Also, not against it," Sam mused, "and neither is the dog," she added of Houdini.

"Well, we can brainstorm it some other time, I think it's time we head off," Kara stated, having noticed the time. "Barry will soon be done with his team building stuff with the Totem Bearers, while Alex will be dropping off Zari from tennis shortly."

"Yeah, let's head back," Sam agreed. "Thanks again, AJ."

"No problem," AJ stated as the three left the training area, Houdini by his mistress's heel.

-SuperEarth-

That afternoon, Kara was in the kitchen cooking dinner. Sam was watching over Zari and Adri, with Kandar staying over, while Barry had the twins with him.

"Well, this smells nice," Barry commented, entering the kitchen with a baby balanced on each arm, Lara following the man.

"It's just meatloaf with some vegetable sides," Kara mused as she started the water to boil for the vegetables. Barry put the babies in the cot present in the kitchen as he went to kiss his wife. Lara moved protectively in front of the cot, as usual.

"You don't need to stay here," Kara remarked to her husband. "You can stick with Kandar and Sam."

"I know. But I wanted to be alone with you," Barry smirked.

"Strange statement, but I like the sentiment," Kara smiled as she turned to Barry. "How did the team building go?"

"Really well," Barry smiled to his wife, mentally sharing the activities they had done that morning; while they could also talk through their bond, they also liked talking aloud too. "We got through the Escape Room the fastest. The course was done reasonably fast too. The trivia was fun – we ended up with a tie though. Ray wants a rematch. Overall, everyone had fun even if Caitlin was a little resistant at first, but she's the only outsider of the rest."

"Nora's also a little of an outsider," Kara mused.

"Well, she's a teenager and keener," Barry shrugged.

"Weird that Caitlin would be the outsider though," Kara chuckled, "Karry's Caitlin is literally the multiverse nanny and midwife, New Justice's and Prime Caitlin are like the multiverse doctors and then there's our Caitlin…"

"Yeah, it's funny," Barry smirked at this. "It took a lot longer for Caitlin to get integrated with the group on this world than others where she seems there from the beginning. How did training go with Sam, though?" He hadn't wanted to ask Sam, despite her living with them.

"Oh, really well, too," Kara smiled, now sharing her memories of this morning with Barry. "Sam's on her way to be a Kryptonian hero already, even if I'm going to have to help her with her Kryptonian side once this magical Reign barrier thing of AJ's wears off."

"You'll be great at it," Barry stated, kissing his wife again. The babies gurgled in their cribs at this, causing Lara to look up and check on her human puppies.

"We need to figure out a hero name for her. She didn't seem too fond of either Super Sister or Power Girl," Kara said, and Barry blinked.

"Hmm…. Something to brainstorm," Barry said with a nod.

"Well, I don't know about you but with the Totem Bearers on their way to bonding well, and another Kryptonian hero in the making, I feel like we can take on this oncoming darkness that keeps on coming but not arriving," Kara mused.

"I hope so," Barry nodded at that. "I really do…" they still had no idea what this darkness was, and it just seemed to be dragging out now, but he knew that they weren't alone in facing it as New Justice was facing the same thing. If only they could get their multiverse connection back to find out exactly what it was.

Chapter Text

Little Gem of Horrors

Late-December 2022

Amelia 'Mila' Allen was a little nervous. She had been invited to the L-Corp building by her new friend, Lena Keirnan; ever since Samatha Arias has gone missing, Lena had been fast-tracked into the CEO position of the company and, as far as Mila knew, she had been doing well. The invitation to the company had been a surprise though.

Now she stood by the assistant's desk outside of Lena's new office as the secretary called their new boss to see if she was free.

"You can go in, Ma'am," the secretary told Mila, who nodded and pushed open the door.

The office was large and spacious, with the desk located by the window, a balcony just beyond where a good view of the city could be seen. Lena was sitting behind the desk, looking a little stressed.

"Nice view," Mila commented, Lena looking up at the woman and smiling.

"'Melia," she grinned, causing Mila to frown. "Thanks for coming."

"No problem – and it's Mila, not Melia," she added; the name having come from her girlfriend, Crystal Snow, after all.

"Really?" Lena frowned as she stood. "I like 'Melia," she stated.

"Well, I went from Amelia to Millie to Mila, so I don't think a fourth name is on the cards," Mila stated at that, moving over to Lena at her desk; the statement causing Lena to chuckle.

"Maybe we can keep it as my pet-name for you," Lena stated.

"A pet-name…?" Mila paused at this. "Anyway, why the invite? We barely know each other," she sat down in front of the desk, opposite Lena. It was true, beyond meeting Lena once more after their impromptu meeting at the local mall and meeting an alternative version of Lena a few years ago, she didn't know the woman.

"I needed a friend," Lena stated. "I… well, I don't really have any friends. Not nearby anyway. I had hoped when I got this role that Sam Arias would be around to help and guide me – I was going to offer her a high up position in this company to help as I'm so out of my depth and she knows what's going on compared to me – but with her AWOL and me fast-tracked… I'm talking too much. I get like that when I'm nervous."

"Don't be," Mila stated, reaching out and putting her hand on Lena's as she sat behind the desk. "I think you'll be great at the role. I know this isn't ideal, and hopefully Sam will be found and will come back – I like her."

"I liked her too," Lena mused.

"Although I know even less than you about whatever this company does. In fact, I don't even know if I should be here as I apprentice at STAR Labs…" Mila began.

"And they're rivals to L-Corp, I get it," Lena nodded. "But you're here now."

"Yes, I am here now," Mila smiled at her new friend. Suddenly, she wasn't feeling nervous at all.

-SuperEarth-

Present Day / Late January 2023

Courtney and Nia had cornered Sportsmaster; for once, Cosmo hadn't acted up as Courtney had used him to blast Sportsmaster off his feet and Nia had used her own powers to telekinetically bind him on the spot.

"That's enough!" Nia was saying as the man struggled against her bonds.

"Don't make me blast you again," Courtney added, smirking as she held Cosmo out to face him.

"Now, what's been your game?" Nia asked, tightening her bond on the man. She pulled out her phone, dialing 911 as subtly as she could. "Why Blue Valley?" She hoped the 911 dispatcher could hear her.

"I… won't…" he struggled.

"Why Blue Valley?!" Nia called again, but he struggled some more against her bonds, and Courtney sent a blast from Cosmo just past his ear.

This only seemed to agitate him more, though.

"Bad move, Stargirl," Nia said, not unkindly, to her teammate, who realized the error as this made Sportsmaster struggle more, causing Nia to have to concentrate her powers.

"Sorry, Dreamer," Stargirl stated, still holding Cosmo up to Sportsmaster, but not using him.

"Now, what is your game? What have you been up to?" Nia reiterated to the baddie, her blue energy brightening, seeming to hurt the man a little.

"My daughter!" Sportstmaster cried. "I need to help my daughter!"

"Oh," both Nia and Courtney paused at this, but Nia didn't stop her bonds on the man.

"We've been separated; my wife is dead… I need to help, to give her the best life…" Sportsmaster stated.

"Still, you've committed crimes, you've robbed banks, killed…" Nia began.

"Where is your daughter?" Courtney was concerned for the girl now, although didn't know the age.

"Foster care," Sportsmaster almost spat. "I just need her back!"

"You may have a few more hurdles to face before then," Nia stated, as sirens could be heard – it seemed the police had successfully tracked her call.

"If you go quietly, maybe you'll get lesser charges," Courtney told the man, who seemed to have stopped struggling against his bonds, just as several police officers came over to them.

"The hero, Stargirl," one of the policemen smiled at Courtney at this – ever since her capture of Icicle a few weeks ago, she was on good terms with the police. Of course, Nia wasn't exactly keen on all that, so had managed to slip away quietly back then. She couldn't do that now, as she still had Sportsmaster in bonds.

"This one's quite strong, you might need some tough handcuffs," Courtney told the officers, who had all nodded to Nia but not said anything to her. The lead was already taking some strong-looking handcuffs from his car, going around to the back to Sportsmaster, who obviously knew he'd been bested as he didn't struggle against the police.

"You've been evading us for weeks, Sportsmaster, it's good you've been caught – even if it wasn't by us," the lead officer stated, nodding now to Nia who withdrew her power so to hand him over to the police, officially.

"Is it possible you could come with us to help answer some questions?" The officer asked Stargirl and Nia.

"We don't do that," Nia stated simply.

"Well, Dreamer, it might–" Courtney began, but Cosmo suddenly lit up at that, causing Courtney to pause as the light within its main body seemed to glow up and down rapidly. "Cosmo?" She asked the Staff, just as he suddenly shot to the sky, almost dislocating Courtney's shoulder as she was only holding him by one arm.

"Stargirl!" Nia called, using her powers on instinct to make a sort of rope and hook it around Cosmo in one move, as it began to fly off, uncontrolled, with Courtney and Nia only just holding on.

"I'll take that as a no…" The officer sighed, manhandling Sportsmaster now toward the police car.

-SuperEarth-

After the mysterious text message that had been sent by L-Corp a few weeks ago, Alex had been trying to gain access to the business, but to no avail. She had been close to requesting from her own bosses for a warrant to gain access into the building, but the help had come from a very unlikely source: Mila Allen.

Alex mentioned their difficulties in accessing L-Corp while at her sister's place, with Barry's own sister visiting – Kara seemed to have started to accept Mila, which was an improvement. Mila had suggested texting Lena to see if she could visit her new friend and she'd received a positive response. Lena seemed to have been a little reluctant to have Alex tag along but had no choice when Mila told her that. Besides, as Mila hadn't seen Lena since Christmas, she was eager to catch up with her.

The only downside was that Alex couldn't bring Agents Vasquez and Valdes with her, but so long as there was no actual threat in the building, it should be okay. She had allowed Mila to take her Death Totem, however, the girl having learned a lot from Karry Universe's Amelia in how to use it – even if she hadn't been able to train with her alternative in a few weeks due to the multiverse being cut off from them.

When entering the building, L-Corp didn't seem to be the place it had been when Sam was in charge, however; Alex having visited it a few times last year. There seemed to be barely anyone in the offices, and the security guard that led them up to CEO office seemed to be agitated and not quite with it. Mila felt odd in the place too, her Totem, already connected to her hand via the gauntlet technology Karry Universe's Amelia had given to her, giving her an uneasy feeling. The assistant's desk was gone, too, with some unusual burn marks on the carpet where it had been.

The guard left them outside the doors to the office and, upon entering, they found Lena sitting at the desk in front of the window. She didn't look well.

"Lena?" Mila took the lead, seeing the woman was in some sort of sleepy trance. She was wearing an unusual gem on a chain around her neck, something that caused Alex to pause, which seemed to draw their immediate attention.

"Melia…?" Lena looked up to see the other woman. There was a momentary smile on her paler-than-usual face, before a frown came upon it. "And Alex Danvers."

"I'm here on DEO business," Alex stated. "I'm surprised you wanted to see me with Mila."

"Melia is my friend… you are not," Lena stated, blankly; she keeping to her own nickname of Amelia's.

"Funny, I thought we were getting there," Alex stated as Mila remained silent, looking between the two, her gauntleted hand clenched, just in case.

"That was before…" Lena's hand moved to the gem on her neck, the gem that Alex knew was called the Black Diamond, that she had gifted to Lena to keep safe from John Constantine. "It doesn't matter," Lena changed tact. "What is your DEO business?"

"A text message that was sent from this business – it went global," Alex stated.

"Ah yes. Part of my new marketing ploy," Lena smirked, darkly at the pair.

"New marketing ploy?" Alex asked.

"The first stage in my plans for global domination," Lena stated, standing now, leaning forward on her desk. "The next will be renaming the company. The Luthors are very much in the past."

"You want to rename the company?" Mila asked. She was concerned for her friend. This didn't seem like her at all.

"Global domination?" Alex stated, as this was enough for action on the DEO.

"Yes. He will ascend, humanity will collapse, and darkness will take over," Lena responded to Alex at this, misquoting the text L-Corp had sent out.

"Lena… you're not well," Mila moved forward, but Lena held out her hand, and suddenly Mila seemed frozen to the spot.

"What is going on?!" Alex asked, reaching for her gun.

"It's his plans, I have to act on them," Lena explained. "He is the future. He is this world. He will be the name of this company and, eventually, the world itself."

"Who?" Alex asked, Mila seeming to struggle against whatever power Lena had on her; Alex had a horrible idea about who it would be.

"Eclipso…" Lena muttered.

-SuperEarth-

In their townhouse, Kara and Barry were having a chilled evening; Sam was cooking dinner this time, wanting to be helpful, while Lara looked over the babies in the bedroom and Zari and Adri played. It was a nice evening, but too cold to go out into the garden or anything like that.

"You never said, how was training today?" Kara asked her husband as she had a glass of wine – being Kryptonian, normal alcohol didn't affect her, but her brother was getting good at making Kryptonian wine from normal Earth ingredients that had some effect on her – and himself and Mon-El, of course.

"It went well," Barry smiled. "The Totem Bearers are getting on better together and using powers together is working nicely. I'm glad Zari was able to attend, too," given Barry was only a temporary Totem Bearer, it meant that having Zari around was good for future bonding too.

"Were the others surprised she was there?" Kara smirked now, knowing they'd kept Zari a sort of secret from the others for now.

"Yes and no," Barry mused; "Mila and Nora thought she was just there as she was with me, but when I told them she would be the future and true Air Totem Bearer, you should have seen their faces! Actually…" he remembered the moment and shared their reaction through their bond, causing Kara to giggle.

"I'd imagine Zari gets on well with them all?" Kara asked, albeit a little unsure.

"Well Caitlin's her nanny; Nora is her mentor and Mila is her aunt; it was just Ray and Mari that she was unsure of. Ray loves her, but Mari… well, you know what Mari's like," Barry mused.

"Takes after her grandmother sometimes," Kara smirked, knowing Mari's grandmother, Amaya Tyler liked to hit people with her walking stick and was very abrupt and to-the-point.

"You're right, she is," Barry chuckled at that before his face fell.

"What's wrong?" Kara asked now.

"Just… this whole Totem thing. I know I'm meant to make a speedster clone-person, but I don't know the finer details. Our Kryptonian Bond, for one, who keeps the Totem… what happens after?" Barry stated.

"This forever-oncoming darkness," Kara sighed at that, herself. "Given how long it's been, maybe it won't come after all?" She tried, but deep down she knew that was just wishful thinking.

"If that's the case, all this Totem training would be pointless," Barry mused. "No, given my meeting with Rae in the Speed Force last month, I think it's still coming – after all, the multiverse has been cut off, and that's got to be linked to it."

"That's true," Kara stated, taking another sip of her wine as she looked out at the evening light. She had a weird feeling now, but she couldn't quite pinpoint it.

-SuperEarth-

In L-Corp, Alex was almost as frozen to the spot as Lena magically had Mila frozen; at the reveal of Eclipso's name, her eyes were somehow fixed on the Black Diamond around Lena's neck – it's new owner smirking at the pair in a way that wasn't quite human. Silence had befallen the office, but a glow outside the window caught Alex's attention now as she frowned.

Coming in a top speed, a girl astride a glowing staff, with another woman hanging on for dear life via a glowing rope, came barreling across the city and heading directly for the L-Corp business.

"Stargirl…?" Alex asked, blinking.

"Star–?" Lena began, but there was a crash and shattering glass as Alex dived forward to grab Mila and pulled her out of harm's way just as Stargirl and Dreamer came smashing into the CEO office, Stargirl rolling off Cosmo as Dreamer's screaming finally stopped. Stargirl was on her feet quickly, though, stumbling as she held onto her Staff.

"What the hell!?" Stargirl shouted at Cosmo, but the Staff was suddenly dead again, no light in him.

"Court…?" Nia groaned. She had been hanging on since Blue Valley and that had put a strain on her – and her powers.

"I don't… Alex Danvers?!" Courtney's eyes had fallen upon Alex, still protecting Mila – who seemed to be free from Lena's odd power – as both women looked up now.

"What was that about?" Alex asked, getting up and brushing herself off. She knew she should turn back to Lena but Courtney and Nia suddenly crashing the party seemed important for some reason.

"I don't know. Cosmo just started acting up and then we were flying… where are we?" Stargirl asked.

"Central-National City," Mila was the one to say this.

"In L-Corp," Alex added.

"And who the hell is that?" Nia was the one to ask this, still recovering but her eyes wide as she was looking back at the window they had crashed into. The question had all of them turn to the only other person in the room who had remained quiet until that point.

Lena looked very different to how she had been a moment ago; half her face was purple; her eyes were glowing blue, and the Black Diamond around her neck was shining brightly.

Alex knew this was developing beyond the rag tag group of heroes she had with her. She had two young heroes, who were very inexperienced, and Mila who barely counted as a traditional hero. They needed more help, and she knew she would have to contact Kara – it was the only choice now.

"The Cosmic Staff…" Lena spoke, her voice almost demonic. "My backup plan. My escape."

"What?" Courtney now pointed with the inactive Staff at Lena, as Alex properly pulled out her gun. Mila wasn't sure what to do while Nia simply shuffled backward.

"For years we were kept in storage together," Lena spoke in the same demonic voice. "It has the power to break me free. A Force of the Universes. I put out the call weeks ago. The text message… I see it couldn't resist me in the end. It might be powered by a Force of the Universe, but after all that time, there was a connection."

"I don't know what you're on about, weird lady, but Cosmo is mine and… he very much doesn't want to fight you, it seems," Courtney stated, the Staff will inactive. Courtney slightly hitting it as if trying to wake it up. "Even if I do…"

"He will have no choice in the end," Lena smirked, holding out her hands now as a dark mist seemed to come out from them. Mila jumped up, using her Death Totem now to create a sort of shield between Lena and the others – something else Karry Universe's Amelia had taught her; a sort of previously undiscovered ghost-powered shield of sorts.

"Courtney, you have to get out of here," Alex told Courtney now, not bothering to use her hero's name for the moment. "If that… thing wants the Staff, you can't be here. You need to protect it. Go out the door," Alex pointed at the door to the office which was thankfully on their side of the shield Mila was making.

"But why did he take me here?" Courtney asked, however. Nia was now using her powers against this demonically possessed Lena, too, who seemed to be using the dark smoke to evade Nia's attacks.

"It's a trap," Alex stated. "Of Eclipso's making."

"And who exactly is Eclipso?" Courtney asked.

"Something a lot worse than how he's making Lena," Alex explained, Mila using some power from the Death Totem to fight off Lena, while Nia tried to help as best as she could.

"I'm a hero though, I should help them," Courtney stated, standing to face the fight.

"You can only help by getting out of here," Alex insisted, but Courtney didn't listen as she shook Cosmo, forcing it to light up. Alex was holding back, almost dragging Courtney away from the room.

"Come on, Cosmo, we have to help," Courtney started, just as both Mila and Nia were thrown backward.

"No!" Alex called, but to Courtney now directed the Staff at Lena and shot at her with the beam of energy from Cosmo.

The Black Diamond around Lena's neck fractured, sending her hurtling back towards the shattered window. As the gem splintered, an ominous cloud of much denser black smoke billowed out, weaving through the room like a dark shroud, engulfing everyone in an impenetrable veil of darkness.

-SuperEarth-

Back in the townhouse, Sam had popped her head out into the living room where Barry and Kara were watching over Zari and Adri to tell them that dinner would be ready soon.

"Well, it smells great!" Kara stated to Sam, who smiled. "Enhanced smell, after all," she winked at her sister, who withdrew back into the kitchen with a smile.

"How's she getting on with training?" Barry now asked, nodding to where Sam had been.

"Oh. She enjoys the Kryptonian powers, but it's still new for her," Kara shrugged.

"What about the Reign personality…?" Barry asked, a little hesitantly.

"Definitely not part of her, or the Reign Stone thing John Constantine made," Kara explained, "but she does rely too heavily on the Reign Stone. AJ said she shouldn't really be using it by now."

"Well, maybe it's a little bit of a crutch or maybe–" but Barry couldn't finish his sentence as the power momentarily went out and darkness seemed to suddenly fall outside.

"That's not good…" Kara and Barry said together as Sam came back out of the kitchen and the two girls looked around to Kara and Barry.

"Mamma Kara?" Adri asked.

"Daddy Barry…?" Zari added, but both could see something was wrong outside. The lights had come back on but outside it was now night – when it had been a reasonably bright evening for a January.

"The moon," Sam noticed what they were looking at – the moon was clearly visible in the sky, but an eclipse seemed to be rapidly occurring across the moon, cutting its reflective light off and then… stopping.

"What's going on?" Adri asked, moving to cling onto Kara's leg, but before Kara could answer, she received an alert on her Justice League communicator.

"We need to get to L-Corp," Kara turned to Barry, seeing the alert.

"But dinner…?" Sam was the one to voice this.

"Keep an eye on the girls and the twins – although Lara will be good with the babies," Barry knew by the tone in Kara's voice not to question his wife as he bent down to look at Zari and Adri now. "We're leaving Aunty Sam in charge, you two be good."

"What…?" But before Sam could get an answer, Kara and Barry had gone, already changed into their hero outfits.

"I guess we'll have to keep their dinner warm; no reason why we can't have ours, though," Sam told the girls, momentarily glancing at the weird eclipse before heading back to the kitchen, deciding to keep a bright nature for the girls, despite the concern.

-SuperEarth-

As the smoke cleared in the L-Corp CEO office, a new figure seemed to emerge; he was tall, at least seven feet, with strange armor covering most of his body, but it was his face that stood out - with blue/purple almost rotting flesh over his face, his eyes glowed red, standing out among the darkness.

Outside, where evening had been falling, it was suddenly night, and the conscious people in the room knew this was a night of magical making.

Courtney acted first though, about to jump forward and then attack the new figure, but he simply waved his arm, and she went flying backwards, hitting the wall – hard.

"Courtney!" Nia called, concerned for her friend, but before she could even summon energy to fight the thing, he had thrown her aside too, his red eyes focused on Alex.

Mila, meanwhile, had crept over to Lena's unconscious form, glad to see her face and eyes were back to normal, but her breathing wasn't great. She wasn't dying – as the bearer of the Death Totem, Mila would have sensed that – but she definitely needed medical attention.

"Alexandra Danvers..." the new being spoke, its voice the essence of demonic as he moved closer to Alex, who seemed rooted to the spot – she had only just managed to send an alert to Kara a moment ago while the smoke was still clearing. "You found the Black Diamond, you set in motion my return..."

"Eclipso," Alex knew who this was. "I never wanted... I didn't realize," she spluttered as the others watched, unable to do anything more. Alex mind briefly went back over the events since she found the Black Diamond – not just taking it from storage but hiding it from John and then sending it to Lena. It was all incredibly foolish and not like her and, now facing the monster within, she didn't know why she didn't hand it over to John the minute he came back from Hell.

"You have the Hand of Fate on you," Eclipso continued, holding out his own hand as if to demonstrate, "too much control to let me control you, but enough to put things in motion," he reached forward, grabbing Alex by the neck now, the woman helpless against the Demon.

"Let me go…" Alex tried now, as Eclipso moved his arm up, pulling her, neck-first into the air, his hand now clenched tightly around her throat.

"Oh, but now is my opportunity to really control you, Alexandra – and maybe even kill you!" The Demon taunted, but just at that moment blue energy suddenly wrapped itself around him like rope: Nia was using her powers to try to save Alex.

"Let her go!" Nia called, but Eclipso simply smirked, directing his attention to the other woman – and as he did so, her blue energy darkened from him, spreading from Eclipso back to Nia.

There was a flash of yellow light as Courtney was back up, using Cosmo to slice Nia's powers before whatever Eclipso was doing to them could affect her. In the distraction, and in frustration, Eclipso threw Alex back, about to turn on the other women, but a gust of wind and another flash of light distracted all as Supergirl and the Flash appeared in the room.

"Hey ugly!" The Flash told the man, having the time of speed to take in his appearance and deciding on these words.

"Let go of our friends," Supergirl finished, moving toward Eclipso as she said this – but then something strange happened…

Supergirl started to glow.

Her whole body radiated unknown, white, energy that seemed to repel the Demon, who backed away in shock. The power he had been using against the heroes seemed to disappear under the light. Eclipso looking at Kara, who looked at her own hand in shock.

"What are you...?" Eclipso asked, but didn't wait for the answer as he suddenly vanished in a puff of black smoke; as he did, Kara's glow began to fade and in a matter of seconds after he was gone Kara was back to normal.

"What the hell was that?" Barry asked his wife, who was just as confused but didn't have time to think as she ran forward to her sister.

Barry looked around, noticing Mila and ran to her while Courtney and Nia began to assess their own situation.

"Mila, are you okay? Is she...?" He noticed Lena, her unconscious head now in Mila's lap.

"I'm fine. She's not dead but she needs help," Mila told her brother. Mila was patting Lena's hair and Barry raised an eyebrow at how affectionate his sister was being with the woman. He had never seen her like this before.

"What… who was that?" Barry asked, now deciding not to question his sister about Lena. There were more important things to do.

"Eclipso," Alex's voice made Barry turn to face her; Kara was supporting her, as she was shaken and bruised with a large bruise forming on her neck also. "He's called Eclipso," Alex sighed.

"There's a lot that needs explaining," Kara began, "but we need medical attention for you all."

"I'm fine," Alex dismissed, despite looking like she'd lost a fight against Superman.

"I could do with some help..." Nia muttered; she, too, wasn't looking that good. Not only had Eclipso nearly killed her, but she had been dragged across the county, hanging on for dear life on Cosmo.

"So does Lena, but Alex, what did Eclipso mean by you setting things in motion for his release...?" Mila voiced, still cradling Lena but looking accusingly at the head of the DEO.

"What...?" Kara was taken aback by this, looking between Mila and Alex now.

"We'll discuss that later – right now we need to get everyone some medical attention," Barry stated firmly, standing now.

There were a lot of questions that needed answered, like who exactly this Eclipso thing was, why Kara glowed when nearing him, and Alex's involvement, but getting everyone fixed was more of a priority. Barry also wondered if this Eclipso being was the threat they were waiting for, and if so, how New Justice was fairing against their own version. If only he could get in contact with their Rae...

-SuperEarth-

They had taken Lena and Nia to the local hospital, with Mila and Courtney staying with their respective friends. Alex refused treatment, but had the hospital call in their DEO doctors to look over the group, anyway. She had even pulled some string, allowing Lena and Nia to stay in the same room. Kara and Alex left almost right away, as they now needed to visit John Constantine, and Barry stayed a moment to reassure Mila before leaving to get back to the kids, Sam and the dog.

Mila sat in a chair beside Lena's bedside, anxiously watching as the hospital staff attended her. The doctors had begun their work, placing Lena on oxygen and connecting her to various machines. It wasn't until Belle Wells arrived that Mila finally received some clarity. "She's stable," Belle reassured her, noticing the concern etched on Mila's face. "We won't have more information until she wakes up."

"Will she wake up?" Mila asked, her voice trembling with worry.

"She should," Belle replied cautiously, not wanting to raise false hopes. "Do you know who her next of kin is? We need to notify them."

"I believe it's her mother, but their relationship isn't the best," Mila said, a touch of sadness in her voice as she took Lena's hand gently in hers. "Can she hear me?"

"It's possible, but it can't hurt to talk to her," Belle encouraged, moving over to Nia's side of the room and drawing the curtain for a more private examination.

As Courtney approached, Mila noted that she had changed into civilian clothes. Supergirl had even found a sizable duffle bag to conceal Cosmo. Courtney opted to keep her Staff tucked away for now, mindful of the potential dangers posed by Eclipso.

"How's Nia doing?" Mila asked, keen to know.

"Oh, Nia will be fine," Courtney replied with a small smile. "What about your girlfriend? Is she okay?"

"All they can say is that she's stable," Mila explained, then noticed a subtle shift in the conversation. "But she's not my girlfriend."

"Really?" Courtney raised an eyebrow, surprised. "You two seemed pretty close."

"No, I have a girlfriend," Mila clarified. "Lena is just a friend…"

Suddenly, a thought struck her. "Oh no, Crystal!" She had forgotten to inform Crystal that she was heading to L-Corp with Alex, and by this time, she was already over an hour late. Checking her phone, she discovered the screen was cracked – likely from the earlier chaos. There were about 20 unread messages, most from Crystal, but some from Caitlin asking about her whereabouts and expressing concern for Crystal.

Mila quickly replied to both with a brief message, letting Crystal and Caitlin know she was fine, although she didn't feel ready to engage in a deeper conversation just yet. For now, her focus remained on being there for Lena, hoping for her recovery. Courtney, meanwhile, silently withdrew back to Nia's side of the room, allowing Mila to spend some time alone.

-SuperEarth-

With the reveal of Eclipso and the strange eclipse that had come with him, Kara had practically dragged Alex to John Constantine's apartment, knowing the man had their answers.

Despite Alex and John being an item, of sorts, Kara's sister seemed to be a little reluctant to visit the man.

"I wondered if I would see you tonight," John stated darkly as he opened the door to both women. "That eclipse… that is not natural…" he nodded to what appeared to be the eclipsed moon, still in the sky. "Something bad has happened tonight, hasn't it?"

"You've got that right," Kara stated as the women walked across the threshold. Rachel 'Raven' Roth was there too, living with her mentor, John, and was in the living room, looking intrigued as to what was going on.

"Tell me all about it," John stated, noting Alex avoiding his eyes now as she zipped up her DEO jacket, to cover her bruised throat. She would get her DEO doctors to check her over later. Kara smiled at Rachel, though, before sitting on the couch, dragging Alex down with her.

"What do you know of something called Eclipso?" Kara asked; this caused Rachel to drop her book and John to pause.

"Now it all makes sense," John groaned, causing Kara to frown into confusion. "That Imp, Nxylgsptinz said about an oncoming evil, while my contacts in Hell said something was coming to this world and now the magical eclipse. I did some research, but I couldn't find too much out, but I'd imagine Nyxly may know more…"

"Care to let us in on it?" Kara asked, confused by the British man's ramblings as Rachel now watched in silence.

"Sorry," John stated, perching on the armchair opposite. "When I went down to Hell last year I was told of some oncoming darkness that was reaching this world, it was intriguing but not important for why I was down there; then when I got back I learned about Nxylgsptinz – the Imp that freed Reign – and that she wanted off this world but couldn't, which is unusual for a Fifth Dimension Imp, and then to add insult to injury we have the multiverse cut off."

"You think this is all related?" Kara asked, knowing very well about the multiverse being cut off, with she and Barry having previously suspected the multiverse being cut off was due to the evil that had been forewarned.

"Indeed. And the last piece of the puzzle was what Alex here had in her pocket," John nodded to his girlfriend, who groaned at this.

"I'm sorry?" Kara was lost again as he looked between John and Alex now.

"When we summoned Nxyly, she said Alex had the evil in her pocket. It was an odd turn of phrase and given you didn't want to tell me, Alex," John frowned at the woman as Kara looked between him and his sister, "I did some research which led me down one road: Eclipso. A demon from the dark days, able to manipulate people and worlds. He's bent on turning the positive into negative. But he was trapped in something called the Black Diamond and left to rot… but we don't know what happened to the Black Diamond on this world."

"And what did you know of it?" Alex asked, tentatively.

"I know that on my original world, Karry Universe, the Black Diamond existed, but it was lost to time, like I assumed it was here – even if found, I doubt Eclipso could even be released from it, given magic being long-gone on the world," John frowned.

"But ours ended up in DEO storage," Alex muttered.

"It was in the DEO? That's how you got it?" Kara glared at her sister now, surprised her sister had kept all this from her.

"Yes, it is," Alex stated bluntly. "I… I found it when Courtney took back the Cosmic Staff. We did inventory and I just…"

"Why did you take it, Alex?" Kara asked, shocked by this action – she should have known better than this.

"I… I don't know," Alex admitted. "I couldn't put it back. It's not like I planned to take it."

"Eclipso is meant to have a powerful hold, even trapped within that gem. I suspect your link to the Loom and the Sisters of Fate dampened that a little, but not entirely," John reasoned, Alex surprised he wasn't shouting at her – this was the very reason she'd been avoiding him so far.

"Do you think he's linked to Astra Logue's disappearance?" Rachel spoke up now, the group turning to look at her. "Nxyly broke her out of the DEO, but she's been M.I.A. since."

"We don't know," Alex was the one to say this. "We're keeping an eye out for her, she's at large and Most Wanted but now you mention it… I mean, Eclipso was only just released – could he have a sort of time-travel element to him?" She turned to John at this.

"Unknown," John stated. "But with the multiverse already cut off from us, it's not beyond the realms of possibilities…"

"Okay," Kara wanted to get back on track. "Alex, you had this Black Diamond thing and… how did it get to Lena?" She asked, looking at her sister. She was trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. That Black Diamond had gotten into Lena hand and was the cause of all the weirdness from the woman, and Alex had had it last.

"I sent it to her," Alex sighed. "I… didn't want John to get it, so I sent it to Lena."

"An inevitable step," John sighed at this. "Eclipso didn't have a strong enough hold on you, love, while Lena Keirnan…"

"But why didn't you tell anyone once you sent this Diamond to Lena?" Kara asked, disappointed by her sister. "Why not tell me? If you had, I could have gone and retrieved the thing. Put it back in holding…"

"I… honestly, I don't know," Alex admitted. "Once it was gone, I just forgot about it."

"I'd imagine it's Eclipso's effect," John mused. "He didn't want you coming to your senses and taking the Diamond away from its wearer – one he could manipulate."

"But you're not… mad at me?" Alex asked John.

"Now that I know what we're dealing with, no," John stated, surprising Alex. "Magic has different effects on different people and the Black Diamond was affecting you. At the time I was annoyed at you, but that's in the past," John dismissed, still surprising Alex on his maturity. "Besides, you thought Enchantress was bad, well Eclipso is much worse," he warned her.

"Yeah. And… you?" Alex turned to Kara, letting the Enchantress comment sink in.

"I'm disappointed," Kara admitted, causing Alex to frown sadly, "but as John said, we know you haven't been yourself because of Eclipso. And if he's worse than Enchantress… well, we know how much she messed us up."

"Enchantress changed a lot of lives," John spoke up at this. "Eclipso could end more."

"Well, I don't care one way or the other about you, Alex," Rachel spoke up at this, but Alex wasn't really bothered by the girl's opinion of her. She smiled at her, regardless.

"Well, now we have Eclipso – who's worse than Enchantress," Kara sighed, "we need to plan, to strategize…"

"But… why did you glow?" Alex interrupted her sister.

"What?" John paused at this. "What do you mean, Kara glowed?"

"When I went to L-Corp to fight Eclipso, I glowed and he was shocked by it – caused him to flee," Kara shrugged.

"That is a new one…" John frowned at that. "I suppose I better go back to my books for this."

"It didn't hurt, did it? Glowing like you did?" Alex asked Kara.

"No. I didn't feel any different to how I do now, I just… glowed," Kara admitted.

"But it caused Eclipso to flee?" John asked. "Like you glowed pure energy… interesting."

"John?" Alex asked, but he shook his head – he had a theory, but he didn't want to voice it yet.

"So… what now?" Alex moved on.

"Now we're facing the biggest threat this world has ever faced. Enchantress may have been a nightmare for us all, but she's a child compared to Eclipso… and not all of us may escape with our lives," John mused. Kara and Alex shared a look at this, now worried about the future of this world.

-SuperEarth-

That evening had been an odd one for Kara.

Alex had stayed at John's, to mend some bridges, while Kara had headed back home to let Barry – and Sam – know of everything that had happened. Meanwhile, the odd eclipse of Eclipso's had gone from the sky and the news channels were reporting on the unusual phenomenon; but this time Alex and the DEO couldn't put out a story regarding it. Maybe it was for the best, given the threat of Eclipso for everyone and everything.

At home, Sam had been fine looking after the kids, and even after letting her know of the threat, she seemed somewhat blasé about it all, not really knowing how dangerous he was. She'd retreated to her room though soon after, and, after they'd had their dinner, Kara and Barry had the kids in bed earlier than planned.

Now they were alone, they could really voice the problems aloud, even if they could talk telepathically via their Kryptonian Bond and had been somewhat all evening.

"Eclipso…" Barry stated, he and Kara in the living room with the TV on in the background. "He's the darkness."

"He's worse than Enchantress," Kara stated, quoting John from earlier. "He almost killed Nia, possessed Lena and–"

"Choked Alex," Barry finished for his wife. He knew this wasn't what she was going to say, but Kara nodded regardless.

"He caused that eclipse, the sudden darkness, on a bright enough evening," Kara sighed.

"If only we could contact New Justice… we could let them know of the threat," Barry voiced.

"They've probably already defeated him," Kara stated. "Rae likely tossed him into a volcano…" this caused Barry to laugh, relieving some of the stress the evening was presenting.

"Then they could tell us how to defeat him," Barry suggested. He wanted to reach New Justice and their Rae, who wasn't just his alternative cousin, but his mentor, who was also facing the same threat. If they could communicate, they would have a better chance, but perhaps that was the purpose of cutting off the multiverse: to prevent them from doing so.

"But John didn't explain why you glowed?" Barry had been made aware of what happened in the meeting between Kara, Alex and John but not all the details.

"No. He had some suspicions but didn't express them," Kara stated. "It is similar to the instance when New Justice's past was altered in such a way that Rae would have been erased, and all of us Paragons stabilized her somehow. We were uncertain how – until we resolved the issue."

"Interesting but doesn't seem helpful," Barry mused. "What now though? How do we stop this evil?"

"The way we've been told," Kara stated, Barry frowning at her. "The Totems, AJ, Sam and that Fifth Dimensional Imp."

"Sorry?" Barry paused at this,

"I only just remembered. We were told a while ago that those would be what we need to defeat the upcoming evil. We just need to figure out how they're used and if Eclipso is going to rear his head sooner, rather than later," Kara explained.

"Well, let's hope it's later," Barry mused, wondering if this was one threat too many for this world.

Chapter Text

When Bad Imps Go Good

One Week Ago...

Finally released from his prison, Eclipso, the demon of darkness, the true fate of this world, turned to Alex Danvers, the last woman standing in his fight with some of the heroes present.

"Alexandra Danvers..." Eclipso spoke, his voice the essence of demonic as he moved closer to Alex, who seemed rooted to the spot – she had only just managed to send an alert to Kara a moment ago while the smoke of his release was still clearing. "You found the Black Diamond, you set in motion my return..."

"Eclipso," Alex breathed. "I never wanted... I didn't realize," she spluttered as the others in the room watched, unable to do anything more; Alex's mind briefly went back over the events since she'd found the Black Diamond not that long ago – not just taking it from DEO storage but hiding it from John Constantine and then sending it to Lena Keirnan. It was all incredibly foolish, not like her and, now facing the monster within, she didn't know why she didn't hand it over to John the minute he came back from Hell.

"You have the Hand of Fate on you," Eclipso continued, holding out his own hand as if to demonstrate, "too much to let me control you, but enough to put things in motion," he reached forward, grabbing Alex by the neck now, the woman helpless against the Demon.

"Let me go…" Alex tried, as Eclipso moved his arm up, pulling her, neck-first into the air, his hand now clenched tightly around her throat.

"Oh, but now is my opportunity to really control you, Alexandra – and maybe even kill you!" Eclipso taunted, but just at that moment blue energy suddenly wrapped itself around him like rope: Nia Nal, aka Dreamer, was using her powers to try to save Alex.

"Let her go!" Nia called, but Eclipso simply smirked, directing his attention to the other woman – and as he did so, her blue energy darkened from him, spreading from Eclipso back to Nia.

There was a flash of yellow light as Courtney Whitmore was standing, using Cosmo to slice Nia's powers before whatever Eclipso was doing to them could affect her. In the distraction, and in frustration, Eclipso threw Alex back, about to turn on the other women, but a gust of wind and another flash of light distracted all as Supergirl and the Flash appeared in the room.

"Hey ugly!" The Flash told the man, having the time of speed to take in his appearance and deciding on these words.

"Let go of our friends," Supergirl finished, moving toward Eclipso as she said this – but then something strange happened…

Supergirl started to glow.

Her whole body radiated unknown, white, energy that seemed to repel Eclipso, who backed away in shock. The power he had been using against the heroes seemed to disappear under the light as he looked at Kara, who herself looked at her own hand in shock.

"What are you...?" Eclipso asked, but didn't wait for the answer as he suddenly vanished in a puff of black smoke; as he did, Kara's glow began to fade and, in a matter of seconds after he was gone, Kara was back to normal.

-SuperEarth-

Present Day / February 1st, 2023

The Totem Bearers were sitting in the training area in STAR Labs. It was better to have them train here, than in the Justice League base of Fort Rozz, given only half of the team were official members of the League. Unfortunately, Totem training wasn't proving that effective, as, while they had all gotten to grips with their Totem's powers, they hadn't a clue how to use them together.

It was a shame that the multiverse had been cut off from them for so long, as a call to Karry Universe would have been invaluable to find out how using the Totems together would work – even accessing documents from the multiverse was proving troublesome, so they had given up finding information that way.

Now, the six bearer sat for a rest, Barry pleased he could work the Air Totem so well already, but also worried as to when they'd be needed to face their latest villain.

"Tell us more about this Eclipso dude," Ray was the one to speak as they took five.

"He nearly killed Lena," Mila was the one to say this, "possessed her and used her..." Barry looked at the face of his sister and wondered what Mila's relationship with Lena was – she had a girlfriend in Crystal but Mila seemed must more invested in Lena lately.

"And now Alex is in deep trouble with the DEO higher-ups because she kept Eclipso from them," Caitlin spoke up at this, surprising Barry of what she knew, distracting him of his curiosity about his sister.

"She is?" Mari asked.

"Why is she in trouble?" Nora frowned to Caitlin.

"She found the Black Diamond that contained Eclipso then sent it to Lena when she was worried her boyfriend would discover it," Caitlin explained.

"Wait, what...?" Mila's eyes went wide at that.

"Yeah, well you hear things when you Totem train by yourself in this place..." Caitlin shrugged, answering Barry's unasked question of how she knew this information as he kept silent on the matter.

"Regardless, he's just one villain in a list of villains this world has recently faced," Barry now spoke up, eyes turning to him at this.

"Seems he may be the worst since Enchantress though," Mari mused at this.

"Don't start about her," Mila rolled her eyes as Barry chucked to his sister's reaction. Mari frowned at this.

"Remind me, who have been the recent villains of this world?" Nora asked; being just eighteen, she was too young to remember some of the earlier ones.

"Well, before the Flash was on the scene, there was that Kryptonian army and the Myriad thing," Ray voiced, glancing to Barry as he now knew that Barry was the Flash.

"Astra's ex husband and his gang," Barry mused, not having met Non but knowing a lot from his aunt-in-law. "Alex nearly killed Astra back then too..."

"Okay, so who was after Non's Army?" Nora asked, wanting to keep things on track.

"There was that Zoom guy," Mari pointed out. "He was looking for the Flash before the Flash even existed here."

"He was from another world. I don't think he realized it at the time," Barry shrugged.

"Then there was Enchantress and her empowering event making metas," Mila voiced at this, now before anyone could ask more about Zoom.

"It was because of her that the Justice League officially formed, to be fair," Mari added to this fact.

"Although it was John Constantine who banished her," Caitlin added. "It was all over the news."

"What happened after her?" Nora asked.

"The Sisters of Fate," Barry was the one to voice this as Mila looked to him again; he knew what she was thinking: she herself had been one of their villains, back when she was being somewhat controlled by Enchantress and helped a prison breakout on another world, but given the events were all on Mutant Earth and didn't affect their world, per se, it was skippable.

"The Sisters of Fate? That Astra Logue woman?" Ray asked.

"Did the DEO ever find her?" Mila asked, knowing the rebellious magic user had escaped confinement recently.

"Sadly, no," Barry spoke up. "But her escape lead to the recent villain in Reign."

"The evil Kryptonian," Nora said, somewhat dramatically.

"She's actually Supergirl's sister," Mila stated. "And not evil, just... controlled. She's free of that control now."

"How do you know that?" Mari asked.

"My sister has her ways," Barry mused to stop Mila saying more.

"But now we have Eclipso," Nora stated. "Who is, what, evil personified...?"

"According to John Constantine, he's basically a demon, his M.O. has changed throughout history but last recorded encounters with him had the original Justice Society, led by the original Stargirl, trap him inside that Black Diamond," Barry explained.

"Leading us back to now. He's out of the Diamond and we Totem Bearers are meant to be one of the key elements in his defeat," Mari spoke up. "At least, that's what we've been told. That's what my grandma was told in her spirit walk."

"Did she get any hints on how we can use our powers together?" Ray asked.

"No," Mari sighed.

"Worth looking into though," Barry mused. "Maybe we could do a spirit walk to find out more?" he had picked up on the words from Mari regarding her grandma.

"Seriously?" Mari raised her eyebrows at this.

"He has a point," Ray pointed to Barry at that. "Your grandma is the former Vixen, so the current Vixen and friends should be able to do it."

"That'd be an interesting experience," Mila stated to that.

"I've done a few spirit walks in my time," Nora voiced. "When your late father was a magic user... well..."

"I'd like to try it," Caitlin added, too.

"Fine," Mari sighed. "There's a few things I need to gather and we need to make sure our schedules are free considering spirit walks could take days but we can do it."

"Its a plan," Ray smirked.

-SuperEarth-

Alex was in the hospital with Lena; since the release of Eclipso just last week, things had gone from bad to worse for her and visiting the still-unconscious Lena in her private room had proved a little therapeutic.

As Nia's injuries had been superficial – a dislocated arm, cuts and bruises, not to mention a concussion – she had been released a few days after her admittance; although doctors at the hospital didn't really know how to treat her alien physiology so Belle Wells, their DEO doctor, along with Kara's aunt Astra, had proved vital in Dreamer's recovery.

Now that Lena had been put into a private room, given she has remained unconscious but not in a coma, Alex had visited her a few times, mainly because of the immense guilt she felt. While she and John had mended their fraying relationship, her job on the other hand was close to a breaking point.

"There's talk of firing me," Alex sighed to her unconscious friend. "As you know, I had to give them a report of everything, how the Black Diamond got from DEO storage to you..." she had told Lena this the other day, although she had no idea if Lena had taken this in while out cold, "and how Eclipso was released, and despite John's input on how Eclipso had me in some type of control... well, I'm the scape goat." Alex sighed. "I mean we did hold Mila responsible for actions when she was a under Enchantress control. Don't worry, though, the DEO doesn't plan on punishing you."

Alex wanted to cry but held strong. There wasn't anything else she knew to do – years ago, she'd dropped out of college, so her dad had pulled some strings to get her a job at the DEO and she had just worked up the ranks until he'd died and the bosses had decided to put her in his place. But now everything was falling apart.

"I get it, I do," Alex continued. "They know the severity of Eclipso and know the DEO themselves are to blame – they had the Diamond in storage, after all – but when all is said and done, I was the one to take it, to set things in motion..." she sighed at that. "At least Sam got her job back..."

With Lena unconscious, L-Corp in ruins, and Sam no longer a missing person, what was left of the L-Corp Board of Directors had decided it was best to reinstate Sam, who was happy to do so, but had a lot of work ahead of her. She hadn't even had time to look at apartments or places to stay now she had a pay check again, so she was still staying with Kara.

"I don't know what will happen for you, though," Alex continued, "with Eclipso... with me... you could be unemployable. Even your mom hasn't come to visit you at all. I'm sorry about that. Your dad is nice though," the man who has raised Lena, who wasn't her biological dad, visited every other day; Alex had met him a few times now.

"If I wasn't on the verge of being kicked out, I'd happily give you a job in the DEO though," Alex continued her monologue to the unconscious woman. "I've suggested Valdes or Vasquez as my replacements, should the higher ups decide to kick me out... maybe I can get them to hire you on? They do owe me a few favors," she sighed now, not hearing the door to the room open until a voice spoke, making her jump.

"So, it's true..." Alex turned and froze, recognising the brunette woman with the bangs now leaning on the door. "Humans are so stupid."

"Nyxlygsptlnz," Alex hissed at the Fifth Dimensional Imp. She had only met the creature twice, but knew her face well by now.

-SuperEarth-

Kara frowned at what Barry was telling her, not sure she completely believed it, glancing away for a moment, running over his words in her mind, her brow furrowing with uncertainty. The idea of this sounded risky, and she couldn't help but wonder if Barry had truly considered all the dangers involved.

"A Spirit Walk? With the other Totem Bearers? While Eclipso is on the loose?" Kara had to ask.

"I know, there are certain risks but we need help and advice," Barry explained.

"Couldn't Amaya...?" she began to ask of Mari's grandmother.

"Mari explained that Amaya said that to use our powers together is something only we can discover together. Besides, she never worked with other Totem Bearers herself, before," Barry sighed, "and we can't seem to figure it out as we are, so a spirit walk is the only other way."

"You do remember you're not the true bearer of the Air Totem, right?" Kara reminded her husband, "what happens if you don't end up as part of this? What about Zari?"

"Kara, I know," Barry snapped, although not unkindly to his wife. "Anything and everything you could think of, I've already thought of – faster than you with my speedster brain. We know that the Totems are needed against Eclipso, one of the many elements for his defeat. If we can't bond our powers, we may not stop him."

"Fine, fine," Kara raised her hands. She didn't want to fight over this and trusted her husband. "I'm sorry. I'm just concerned."

"We all are," Barry agreed. "Eclipso was only released last week, but hasn't been seen since. We don't know what he's up to, what he plans to do or how to ultimately stop him. It's only your Paragon powers that can repel him – and only that seems to be temporary," he pouted at that; John had quickly worked off his hunch the evening Eclipso had been released from the Black Diamond, and came to the only conclusion plausible: Kara being a Paragon of the Multiverse was the reason she'd glowed, and her positive energy, from her place in rebooting the universe, was what repelled Eclipso, who was a creature of pure darkness, after all. They wondered how New Justice Rae had been dealing with this, given her being a Paragon meant she should have the same effect on her Eclipso.

"What's wrong now?" Kara asked, noticing Barry pouting after his mention of her being a Paragon. "Its not FOMO again, is it?"

"Yes it is," Barry sighed to her Fear Of Missing Out reference. "Three Karas are Paragons and two of them have their Barry's as their other half of being a Paragon, and yet you are a solo Paragon who has me," Barry explained.

"I know, and I've explained that we don't know why that was – if we Paragons could pick the Paragons I would have made you a fellow Paragon with me... especially to save me the pain of your death breaking our Bond during Crisis, but we can't go back and change things, so let it rest," Kara sighed.

"Yeah, yeah..." Barry shrugged. "Odd though, that two Paragon worlds are facing Eclipso and both of them have solo Paragons."

"Considering Karry Universe and Prime Universe are the only joint-Paragons out of seven, its not really that odd," Kara shrugged. "Now, what was it we were doing?"

"Working," Barry conceited as Kara nodded. She was in a business suit, after all, and had only come home for her lunch break, while Barry was using the home office today, given Zari had been sick this morning, and Caitlin – and their dog, Lara – were looking after the twins.

Both Kara and Barry had been a little distracted of late to give work their full attention, but life didn't pause – even for superheroes.

-SuperEarth-

Nyxly smirked at Alex as the woman instinctively reached for her gun, a flash of determination in her eyes. However, Alex paused, her expression shifting to one of frustration as she remembered, letting out a quiet sigh. The realisation settled over Alex's face, her hand dropped her side, feeling uncharacteristically exposed and vulnerable in the situation.

"Let me guess, no weapon?" Nyxly remarked to the other woman.

"The DEO..." Alex began, annoyed now, given her bosses had also restricted her from carrying her weapon at all times. It felt very discriminatory given she was an American citizen and had every right to carry a gun.

"Well, I'm not here to make enemies," the Imp remarked, raising her hands as Alex still placed herself between the unconscious Lena and the Fifth Dimensional Imp, just in case. "Last time we met, John Constantine summoned me like some pesky woodland nymph, but I mean no harm this time – honestly."

"Okay. But why here? Why now? Why me?" Alex asked.

"Because this place has the most links to him," Nyxly stated simply, and Alex didn't need to ask who Nyxly was referring to, "because you know I'm trapped on this world, and will die with it, should he not be defeated and because... well, I needed a friend."

"A friend?" Alex's eyes widened at this. "Me? Us?"

"Nicky may have been a creation to get close to one Samantha Arias, but she did feel a connection to you, Alex Danvers," Nyxly explained. "We're two strong-willed women, controlled by 'The Man' in need of our freedom. We both have dabbled in our fair share of other worldly things – me and my culture, you and your sister, the magic of this world and being touched by the Hand of Fate – and, not to mention, being imprisoned by people who think they're superior to us."

"Your father," Alex acknowledged, knowing the Imp had been imprisoned in the Phantom Zone along with a power-dampening bracelet.

"And the DEO's Board of Directors for you," Nyxly nodded. "Besides, I've been told I'm important to the defeat of you-know-who..."

"Eclipso," Alex stated.

"It wasn't your fault, you know," Nyxly stated simply, changing tact, "or Lena's," she nodded to the unconscious woman in the bed. "Eclipso is like a tsunami, all you can do is run or die. There's no shame in running, or in trying to fight the currents."

"Thank you," Alex couldn't quite believe she was being complimented by the Imp. "So… as we seem to be friendly now, I have to ask... what happened to Astra Logue?"

"The wannabe witch?" Nyxly frowned at that. "I honestly don't know."

"But you freed her from DEO imprisonment," Alex pointed out.

"A favor for a favor," Nyxly shrugged. "I freed her, and she freed me – by unlocking Reign from Samantha Arias. Once that was done, Ms. Logue left. I didn't need her anymore so I didn't feel the need to track her," Nyxly paused at this, a small, calculating, smile of realization on her face. "Oh I see... if you could get her, lock her up once more, that would be a big positive on the DEO restoring you to your rightful place."

"You're good," Alex remarked. "I'm not saying you're right, but you are good."

"Well, there is something else," Nyxly added, Alex now raising an eyebrow. "This whole... Eclipso thing," it seemed to be hard for her to say his name, Alex recognized, "well, I've been told Supergirl and I would get on very well, indeed."

"Seriously?" Alex didn't know whether to groan or laugh at this.

-SuperEarth-

With Kara having flown back to the office, Barry had tried to concentrate on the WellsAllen/Palmer Tech paperwork, but found his eyes glazing over as he recalled the events of the other day: the unnatural solar eclipse, his running to L-Corp to find Eclipso released, Lena unconscious, Alex in a choke hold by the Demon, Stargirl and Dreamer only just alive, and then Kara's glow repelling the Demon back into darkness.

It was a lot, and he honestly didn't know how he, or the League, were going to defeat Eclipso. Enchantress had been a pain in the ass, but it was magic against magic when it came to her, while the Fates had had their defeat kind of written in the stars... even Reign had been somewhat straightforward.

He really wished he could contact New Justice and their Rae; they were facing the same enemy and were stronger than this world, their Rae would have known how best to stop their Eclipso. Hell, they had probably defeated him in one short fight, knowing how Rae and her League worked over there.

"Daddy Barry?" Barry had to shake himself out of his reverie to turn to the door. Zari was standing there, and she still didn't look well.

"Oh, Zari darling..." Barry began, but was shocked when the young girl suddenly burst into tears. With speed, he ran to the door to grab her and take her back to his office chair, letting her cry into his chest as he hugged her. "Hey, hey, what's wrong?" He asked the girl, feeling Kara's concern through their bond; this morning, Zari had said she wasn't feeling well, so the parents had told her to stay home and go back to bed, with Barry calling the school to let them know before telling Ray he would he working from home. Kara had taken Adri to school before flying off to work, herself.

"I'm... I'm scared," Zari now said through the tears.

"Scared? Why, my girl?" Barry asked, holding his daughter close.

Need me to come back? Can excuse myself for a few minutes, Kara asked quickly through their Bond, her maternal instincts having been kicked up several notches since giving birth.

TBD, was all Barry said back as Zari spoke, Kara listening through their bond.

"Eclipso," Zari stated, as she took several breaths to calm herself.

"Oh, honey," Barry said, holding her tight. While they had protected Adri from the threat of Eclipso so far, they had to let Zari in on it, given she was the true bearer of the Air Totem, which, with its siblings, would be integral in defeating the demon – and Barry was only wielding it on her behalf. "This is for the grown ups to worry about, and we're working on every possibility in how to stop him."

"But what if you don't?" Zari asked. "What if you and mummy Kara are killed like my parents were?"

"Hey, hey," Barry said, his heart breaking for her as he said this, moving Zari back a little so he could address her to her face. "Is this why you wanted to take today off school?" He asked, to her nodding. "Oh, hon, we're not going anywhere. Okay? We're the Flash and Supergirl. We've stopped Enchantress, those silly Sisters of Fate and saved Aunty Sam from Reign. Eclipso is a walk in the park."

He wished he could believe the words he was saying but he had to feign confidence so Zari could believe him.

"But he could–" Zari started.

"He could but he won't," he interrupted her, not even letting her tell him what Eclipso could do. "We're indestructible – especially mummy Kara, she's a Paragon of the Multiverse," Barry said, Zari having been told what this was before. "If anything were to happen to her, her fellow Paragons would reign fire on those responsible," as he said this, he mentally frowned – what would happen if Eclipso did claim this world and destroy it? Would Kara, as a Paragon, be saved or would her death start a chain reaction that would unravel the entire multiverse and existence itself? He felt Kara's curiosity of this possibility in his mind, too, and it gave them sudden hope: they couldn't possibly be completely destroyed if Eclipso wanted to live – he wouldn't be immune to the total collapse of reality itself.

"Promise?" Zari spoke up, bringing back to the present. Barry looked to his daughter now.

"I promise," Barry said.

"Pinky promise?" She now asked, holding out her little finger, which Barry took with his own little finger.

"Pinky promise," he stated, before pulling her into a hug. "Want to stay with me for a bit while I try and work?" He asked, indicating the other office chair he had in the room. Zari simply nodded as she hopped onto the other chair and immediately began to spin on it.

Nailed it, Barry couldn't help but think to his wife, pleased of his parenting skills.

To the wall, Kara added, glad he had calmed their daughter, too.

-SuperEarth-

In Lena's hospital room, Alex was now perched on her friend's bed while Nyxlygsptlnz leaned against the wall. Alex herself couldn't quite believe that she was having this conversation with the Imp, but knew these were unusual times.

"Who exactly told you that you and Kara would be besties?" Alex asked, her arms resting on the bed as she leaned forward.

"Some Fortune Teller," Nyxly dismissed, and Alex couldn't help but actually laugh at this; even Nyxly smiled at this, too. "I know, I know, but I was desperate and she was weirdly good at her job. Got all the facts right, knew who I was and even saw things in my 'aurora' – I don't necessary believe in that form of magic but..." she let the sentence fall as she said it.

"Okay," Alex sighed, "okay, so you and Kara are meant to be BFFs and help take down Eclipso. Any idea how?"

"Not a clue," Nyxly shrugged at this. "But I can start here."

"How?" Alex frowned at this.

"I said when I arrived that this place had his presence," Nyxly started.

"Eclipso possessed Lena, had some hold over me, I figured that's what you meant," Alex shrugged.

"And it's true – but he left Lena here with some damage that can't be fixed," Nyxly stated, almost sadly. "While I can't do anything to help there, I can do one thing that can help her now," as she finished her sentence, she closed her eyes, concentrating on something as Alex frowned once more.

From the bed, Lena suddenly moved and Alex stood to turn to the woman, whose eyes opened as she groaned.

"Oh my…" Alex gasped.

"Alex...?" Lena muttered, her eyes focusing on the woman for a moment. "What...? I... was it a dream?"

"Sadly not, and I'm sorry, its all my fault but we can fix it, can't we?" She turned to Nyxly but paused as it seemed Nyxly had vanished. "Damn Imps..." Alex muttered, turning back to Lena, whose eyes seemed unfocused again.

"Alex Danvers?" Lena asked, once more. "Was it a dream...?"

"Urm," Alex wasn't sure what was happening but didn't get the chance to question Lena's repeated question as the door opened and nurses came in. It seemed Lena waking had alerted them, and now they had to run some tests.

-SuperEarth-

Later that evening, once the children had drifted off to sleep and the house had grown quiet, with Sam also peacefully resting, and with another long day behind them, Kara and Barry finally found a moment for themselves as they began preparing their own bed, looking forward to some much-needed rest together.

"Is Zari going to school tomorrow?" Kara asked Barry.

"Yes," Barry said, confident their eldest's concerns had been calmed.

"You know her fears aren't really outrageous," Kara pointed out. "I've had them myself…"

"I know," Barry nodded, indeed, knowing what his wife meant, "but being a Paragon…"

"We're not immortal Barry," Kara said back to that. "I can be killed. I know if Eclipso went to the past and killed me before I restarted the universe it would cause problems. Like that time with Rae on New Justice."

"I remember," Barry stated, knowing Kara referenced the recent event on said world where Rae had been killed in the past, meaning her being a Paragon had been erased and the multiverse had started to collapse. Luckily, the Paragons themselves had been able to fix it all before time solidified, before another Crisis could happen.

"But I don't know what happens to being a Paragon when I die in the present," Kara added, a little more thoughtfully now.

"Rae would know, or Kara and Barry from Prime or Karry, I'm sure," Barry stated, pausing at the look Kara gave him – occasionally, he forgot just how connected to the other Paragons of the Multiverse his wife was, and merely mentioning them at a time when they couldn't talk to one another was hard on her. "Damn, I'm sorry," he added.

"It's fine," Kara stated, although Barry knew it wasn't fine at all. "I miss them all…" she sighed, and Barry saw her look at her phone and knew she was looking at the Paragon group text messages. It had been silent for way too long now.

With that, Barry sat on the bed and pulled Kara closer to him, kissing her on the head.

We'll get them back, Barry thought to Kara as she leaned into him. You being a Paragon is helpful at least. Without it right now, we have no defence to Eclipso.

We need to figure out more, Kara thought, now getting into bed. "Maybe your Spirit Walk isn't an outrageous idea, after all" she now added aloud. "We need the Totems as well, along with your Speed Force duplicate," Barry nodded but frowned, wondering as he, too, got into bed, when Mari would be ready for their Spirit Walk; curious, also, as to how he could make this Speed Fore duplicate of himself he was destined to make.

I wish Rae were here, to help me with the duplicate, Barry now added to that, Kara simply holding him as he said this. She may be his alternative cousin, but Rae had been his speedster mentor since the moment he had gotten his powers, who he leaned on since day one. Part-cousin, part-sister, part-trainer.

With so much uncertainty, though, they need start getting ready for facing Eclipso – before he did any more damage.

-SuperEarth-

Astra Logue was in an abandoned house on the outskirts of Central-National City; she was reading a book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, to be precise.

Since she had released Reign from Samantha Arias and parted ways with Nyxlygsptlnz, Astra Logue wasn't quite sure what to do with her newly found freedom – she had very briefly considered going to Rachel 'Raven' Roth who had been training her with her magic while imprisoned, but knew there girl would have only thrown her back to the DEO for her escape.

Then, there had been the possibility of going back to the only life she had ever known: Hell itself. But that was a no-no as even then she didn't have the freedom she had here in the world of the living. She could have gone to Johanna Constantine, John's ancestor who lived in Hell, for protection, but she wasn't sure Johanna would even offer that.

Besides, with the two remaining Sisters of Fate long gone, and traitors to Astra Logue herself, they weren't an avenue she wanted to visit either.

The only course of action would be to magically block her presence from the magic users of this world and figure out what's next, which currently meant finding a place to stay, something to do and food to eat – all of which magic helped her achieve.

She froze though when she felt another presence near her, a darkness she had never felt before, not even in the very depths of Hell itself.

"Alice in Wonderland..." a demonic voice spoke, and Astra Logue was quick in dropping the book, jumping up from her chair and projecting a magical shield around herself as she looked to the man the voice belonged – a seven-foot demon, with purple skin and glowing, red, eyes. "Appropriate for the woman raised in Hell now on Earth. This is your Wonderland, Astra Logue."

"Eclipso," Astra Logue knew who this creature was. She had heard rumors of him in Hell and had never wanted to be face-to-face with him in real life. Already she was summoning the spell to teleport herself away.

"Think of me as your Cheshire Cat, your guide in this world," Eclipso continued, but as he said this, he waved his hand and the magical shield she'd projected around herself was shattered, along with the attempt to teleport herself away. "Or maybe I'm the Red Queen and just want your head..."

"My head?" Astra Logue asked, trying to make herself look more confident than she sounded as she stood.

"For the moment, still attached to the body," Eclipso smirked, she frozen to the spot. "I need magic, Ms Logue – and a lot of it," Eclipso stated as he moved forward.

Before Astra Logue could react, he had grabbed her by the wrist and she was suddenly surrounded by his darkness as they teleported away via his, unique, demonic magic.